SiteProof
Timestamped & GPS-Tagged Job Photos: Proving When and Where
“When was this taken?” decides more job disputes than any other question. Here’s how photo timestamps and GPS actually work, why pixel-stamped dates aren’t proof, and how to capture location-verified photos automatically.
The three levels of “timestamped photo”
Not all timestamps are equal, and the differences decide whether your photo survives scrutiny:
- Pixels drawn on the image. Timestamp-camera apps burn the date and GPS into the corner of the photo. Readable, but it’s just pixels — anyone with a photo editor can produce the same corner text on any image. As proof, it’s decoration.
- EXIF metadata. Every phone camera writes capture time and (optionally) GPS into the file’s EXIF block. Better — but EXIF is famously editable with free tools, and screenshots or exports routinely strip it. Opposing counsel knows this.
- Sealed metadata. The capture time, location, and image content are bound together cryptographically at the moment the shutter fires. Editing any of them afterward breaks the seal detectably. This is the only level that constitutes evidence rather than an assertion.
What SiteProof records at capture
- Timestamp — date and time the shutter fired, kept with the task and shown on comparisons and reports.
- GPS coordinates — where the photo was taken.
- Street address — SiteProof reverse-geocodes the coordinates automatically, so the job record says “2481 Rue Frontenac,” not just latitude/longitude. It even suggests the address as the job name.
- Device info and integrity hashes (with Dispute-Proof Mode) — each image is sealed with a SHA-256 hash and HMAC signature at capture, upgrading the record from level 2 to level 3 above.
Why “automatic” is the feature that matters
Manual documentation fails at the exact moments it’s needed most — the rushed days, the difficult clients, the jobs that go sideways. If recording the when-and-where requires remembering to toggle something, the one photo you desperately need will be the one without it. In SiteProof there is no toggle: every photo taken inside a job carries its metadata, every time, including fully offline (the GPS receiver works without cell service; the address resolves when you’re back in coverage).
Where the metadata shows up
- Comparison exports — the “Include job information” toggle prints dates, address, and notes on the shareable image.
- PDF job reports — job details card with location and start/end dates, per-task capture times, and a verification block when Dispute-Proof Mode is on. See creating a job completion report PDF.
- Evidence packages — a machine-readable proof manifest (JSON) listing each photo’s hashes and capture data, exportable as a ZIP. See tamper-proof photo evidence.
Practical tip: enable location while using the app the first time SiteProof asks. Photos capture fine without it, but the address line on reports — “documented at 2481 York Street” — is the detail clients and adjusters respond to most.
Timestamp apps vs. documentation systems
Stamp-the-pixels apps answer one narrow question (“put the date on the photo”), then leave you to organize thousands of stamped images in your camera roll. A documentation system files each photo against a job and task, pairs befores with afters, carries the metadata into reports, and — in SiteProof’s case — seals everything against tampering. If the goal is proof rather than decoration, the stamp was never the point.
