The Problem:

• Metadata of pictures is altered when Facebook generates the download file

• Therefore you cannot rely on the metadata of the picture file (.jpeg or otherwise) for evidentiary purposes – which is usually the point of retrieving the pictures!

Facebook’s new “download your info” tool holds promise for simplifying e-discovery, particularly of pictures uploaded to FB, but…

Create date is date/time FB generated download – not date of picture or date of upload to FB

The Solution

The FB download gives you HTML files of every photo album to which pictures have been uploaded…

Open the HTML file for the album to which the picture was posted…

Then scroll down to the picture you want

Album name

And if the picture was jpeg, the picture will appear, along with the date that it was posted!

Upload date/time

Nice comment from my college girlfriend

If the picture file is not jpeg, the image won’t show up in the HTML file for that album…

Misc File type (opens with IE)

Note file name “E determined to….”

But using the file name you can locate the date/time of upload…

File name and date/time of upload