The upside of the non-uniformity fingerprint technique is that it can help researchers like Fridrich identify faked images. It's inherent to the sensor, as opposed to measures, such as photo metadata, that are "intentionally implemented", she explains. And it's "difficult to remove even when one tries", says Jessica Fridrich of Binghamton University in New York state.
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In the digital image forensics community, this sensor fingerprint is known as "photo response non-uniformity". Much like snowflakes, no two imaging sensors are alike.
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Although unintentional, it acts like a fingerprint, unique to your camera’s sensor, which is imprinted onto every photo you take. The different sensitivities of the photosites creates a type of imperceptible image watermark. So, even if you used two cameras of the same make and model to snap a uniformly lit surface – where every point on the surface has the same brightness – there'd be subtle differences unique to each camera. This results in some photosites being more or less sensitive to light than they should be, independent of what is being photographed. And when coupled with the inherent inhomogeneity of their silicon material, the ability of each photosite to convert photons to electrons varies. However, due to imperfections in the manufacturing process of imaging sensors, the dimensions of each photosite differs ever so slightly. Or etymologically speaking, a drawing with light. This results in a single value for each photosite, which describes the amount of light detected. The electrical charge of the electrons emitted from a photosite is measured and converted into a digital value. Due to a phenomenon known as the photoelectric effect, the absorption of photons causes a photosite to eject electrons a bit like a nightclub bouncer. This is composed of a grid of millions of silicon "photosites", which are cavities that absorb photons (light). Central to every digital camera, including those inside smartphones, is its imaging sensor. To understand what this identifier is, you first have to understand how a photo is captured.
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Even professional photographers might not realise or remember that it's there. There is also a unique personal identifier linking every image you capture to the specific camera used, but it's one you'd probably never suspect.
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And unfortunately, savvy criminals can use the same tricks as the police: if they can discover where and when a photo was taken, it can leave you vulnerable to crimes such as burglary or stalking.īut metadata is not the only thing hidden in your photos. But it also poses a privacy problem for law-abiding citizens if the authorities can track their activities through images on their camera and social media. This lack of awareness has proven useful for police investigators, to help them place unwitting criminals at a scene. Some social media platforms remove information like geolocation (though only from public view), but many other websites do not. But many people don't even realise the data is there, let alone how it might be used, so they don't bother to do anything about it before they post images online. It is not impossible to expunge metadata, using freely available tools such as ExifTool. This automatically and parasitically burrows itself into every photo you take. It is data about data, providing identifying information such as when and where an image was captured, and what type of camera was used. When you take a photo, your smartphone or digital camera stores "metadata" within the image file.