How do I prove a photo of damage was taken before a certain date?
Take the photos, then fix their time with someone else as witness, the same day. A photo's own date is easy to change and is stripped when you send it through WhatsApp or email, so on its own it rarely settles an argument. Instead, keep the original files from your phone or camera, fingerprint them, and have the fingerprints time stamped by an independent witness (a time stamp authority or Bitcoin through OpenTimestamps). That shows the exact pictures existed by that moment. Do it for the whole set at once, and keep the originals untouched: an edited, cropped or forwarded copy no longer matches its proof. For a rental, also send the photos to the landlord on day one, so they cannot say they never saw them.
Why the photo's own date is weak
The date inside a photo is written by the phone and can be edited with free tools. Most messaging and social apps remove it, along with the location, when you share a picture. The other side in a dispute can fairly say: that date could be anything.
What makes it strong
An independent time stamp over the photo's fingerprint shows that this exact picture existed by a certain moment, and nobody can change that afterwards. Proving the whole set at once shows the pictures belong together. Telling the other side straight away removes the argument that they never saw them.
A time stamp shows when the picture existed, not what it shows or who took it. If it ever goes to a court or an ombudsman, a lawyer decides how to present it; this is not legal advice.
On moving in day, or right after an accident
- 01
Photograph everything, wide and close
Rooms, walls, meters, the car from all sides. Video works too.
- 02
Keep the originals
Copy the files from the phone as they are. Do not edit, crop or forward them first.
- 03
Prove the whole set the same day
Fingerprint the folder and have it time stamped by an independent witness.
- 04
Send them to the other side
An email to the landlord or the insurer, the same day, closes the 'never saw them' gap.
- 05
Keep the proof with the photos
Back up the folder and its proof together.
Rashnova Proof can prove a whole folder of photos in one step, free and offline, with the time witnessed by four independent services, and later show any single photo on its own without revealing the rest. Its certificate carries six check words, so a printed copy can be compared by eye.