Technology and tools
What is EXIF?
Metadata stored inside photos: camera or phone model, date and time, settings and sometimes GPS coordinates of where it was taken.
EXIF (Exchangeable Image File Format) is metadata embedded in image files by cameras and phones: device make and model, capture date and time, camera settings, software used and, if location was enabled, GPS coordinates.
Many social platforms strip EXIF on upload, but images shared by email, cloud links, forums or messaging apps sent as files often keep it. It is useful evidence, but it can also be edited, so it should be checked against other sources.