iPhone 13 Date and Time Change Conundrum

[FastTimes143]

Question here and I do not see this has been discussed. Forgive me as I am a first timer.
Suppose iPhone is a 12 or 13.
So here's the question:

In an iphone, you can change the date and time manually. I know that when you change the date and time, any photos and videos you take for that day will go into a roll with the date you switched to, on your phone. For example, if it is September 9th, 2022, and you change your sate to May 22, 2022, and then go and take phtotos that day, those photos will save to a roll under that date >> May 22, 2022.

My question is, if the phone date is changed back to, today's date, for example, is there a way to determine if the date was changed in the first place?

Is there a way to verify if the photos taken were really taken on May 22, 2022?

Is there a log of some sort that can be accessed to determine if the phone's date was changed and then reverted back to current date?

Any help with this would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

 

[usagora]

Ok, I know this doesn't answer your question, but I just have to know . . . why would you want to change the date on your iPhone to an inaccurate date in the first place? Just trying to figure out where you're coming from.

But, I have a feeling that if you set the date manually and take a photo, the "real" time/date is not recorded or retrievable from the metadata.

 

[eyoungren]

Ok, I know this doesn't answer your question, but I just have to know . . . why would you want to change the date on your iPhone to an inaccurate date in the first place? Just trying to figure out where you're coming from.

But, I have a feeling that if you set the date manually and take a photo, the "real" time/date is not recorded or retrievable from the metadata.

OP probably has someone telling them that pics were taken on X date, but they really weren't. The date was rolled back to make it appear to be the case but OP can't prove it. So OP wants to know if there's a way to really find out.

My guess…

AFAIK there is no way to tell. You might be able to investigate the image data that the phone records with the picture but IDK if that will show the actual date or not.

 

[FastTimes143]

Ok, I know this doesn't answer your question, but I just have to know . . . why would you want to change the date on your iPhone to an inaccurate date in the first place? Just trying to figure out where you're coming from.

But, I have a feeling that if you set the date manually and take a photo, the "real" time/date is not recorded or retrievable from the metadata.

Good question. Thr phone in question is my Step-sons. He claims he was somewhere doing something elae with his phone and could prove it with a "camera roll" that is labeled May 22, 2022. However, he decided to bring this forward almost 10 days after he was questioned about where he was. He says he screenrecorded ticktoks he watched that night. But i figured out you could change date and times and it would appear to "look" like that was what he was doing that night. Wanted to know if i could verify what he was saying.

 

[usagora]

Good question. Thr phone in question is my Step-sons. He claims he was somewhere doing something elae with his phone and could prove it with a "camera roll" that is labeled May 22, 2022. However, he decided to bring this forward almost 10 days after he was questioned about where he was. He says he screenrecorded ticktoks he watched that night. But i figured out you could change date and times and it would appear to "look" like that was what he was doing that night. Wanted to know if i could verify what he was saying.

So eyoungren guessed correctly 🙂 After doing some more searching, it appears there's no way to determine the "true" date/time a photo was taken. It only records the date/time that is set on the device that took the picture. And I imagine it's possible to change the metadata after the fact as well with the proper tools. But that also means your step-son can't use the date and time of the photo or screen recording to prove anything. He'd have to have at least one impartial witness to verify his whereabouts.

 

[FastTimes143]

Good question. The phone in question is my Step-sons. He claims he was somewhere doing something elae with his phone and could prove it with a "camera roll" that is labeled May 22, 2022. However, he decided to bring this forward almost 10 days after he was questioned about where he was. He says he screenrecorded ticktoks he watched that night. But i figured out you could change date and times and it would appear to "look" like that was what he was doing that night. Wanted to know if i could verify what he was saying.

So eyoungren guessed correctly 🙂 After doing some more searching, it appears there's no way to determine the "true" date/time a photo was taken. It only records the date/time that is set on the device that took the picture. And I imagine it's possible to change the metadata after the fact as well with the proper tools. But that also means your step-son can't use the date and time of the photo or screen recording to prove anything. He'd have to have at least one impartial witness to verify his whereabouts.

If that is the case, that would be unfortunate. As much of this hinges on timestamps. But then, Im having a difficult time believing the phone's system wouldn't keep a log of date changes, as it would be an obvious flaw in terms of manipulating/masking information >> photos/video, etc.

I wonder if there are any forensic minds out there with programming capable of plucking out such information...and if it is possible to do so, in the first place.

 

[usagora]

If that is the case, that would be unfortunate. As much of this hinges on timestamps. But then, Im having a difficult time believing the phone's system wouldn't keep a log of date changes, as it would be an obvious flaw in terms of manipulating/masking information >> photos/video, etc.

Even if it did, that wouldn't help if someone edited the metadata after the fact (e.g. took the photo with the correct time/date, exported a JPEG and then used a third-party app or script to edit the date/time in the metadata) and deleted the original photo from their iPhone.

And if it did, you'd have to access his phone and extract a log from it, which I don't see him voluntarily doing. The phone would have to be seized by investigators (if this is a legal issue) with a warrant.

If this photo/screen recording is the only alibi he has, he doesn't have much of an alibi.

 

[FastTimes143]

I do not believe he is savvy in editing metadata. I'm not sure he would know where to start. In fact if this were his "last resort", it may be safe to say that the data itself is still intact and accesible. If I could get a hold of his phone (through his permission) how would I go about accessing that data and comparing?

And thank you for the quick replies.