Forensic Photography

Maybe I'm just naive but I didn't know there were agencies and programs out there that check for photoshopped / altered pictures.  I know there are experts that can tell if a photo has been altered but I assumed they just scour the photo diligently and find the flaws with their own eyes.  Accord to this CNET article from Australia, every digital camera leaves traces of digital noise or imperfection, somewhat like the camera's own fingerprints.

A team of forensic analysts from the University of Albany has developed a technique that measures the inconsistencies in a photograph's "noise" profile.  An example used is this photo of Tiger Woods holding a flamingo.  Tiger Woods has one distinct pattern of digital noise while the flamingo has a different pattern which is forensic proof that the overall photograph has been tampered.

There are other solutions available that can verify the authenticity of photos but they have been compromised by hackers which makes the team from U of Albany much more welcomed to the digital age and digital literacy.  For the most part, an image is obvious if it has been tampered with but there are images that are hard to tell and this technology can become very useful.  There are countless times where an altered picture has been use for hidden agendas like political conflicts by Iran and North Korea or conspiracy theorists who needs convincing of a particular movement and it is good to know that there are programs and experts who can call them out on it.