Forensic devices for activism: Metadata tracking and public proof

Abstract

The central topic of this paper is a mobile phone application, 'InformaCam', which turns metadata from a surveillance risk into a method for the production of public proof. InformaCam allows one to manage and delete metadata from images and videos in order to diminish surveillance risks related to online tracking. Furthermore, it structures and stores the metadata in such a way that the documentary material becomes better accommodated to evidentiary settings, if needed. In this paper I propose InformaCam should be interpreted as a 'forensic device'. By using the conceptualization of forensics and work on socio-technical devices the paper discusses how InformaCam, through a range of interventions, rearranges metadata into a technology of evidence. InformaCam explicitly recognizes mobile phones as context aware, uses their sensors, and structures metadata in order to facilitate data analysis after images are captured. Through these modifications it invents a form of 'sensory data forensics'. By treating data in this particular way, surveillance resistance does more than seeking awareness. It becomes engaged with investigatory practices. Considering the extent by which states conduct metadata surveillance, the project can be seen as a timely response to the unequal distribution of power over data.

The Pleasure and Pain of Visualizing Data in Times of Data Power

“…Alternative ways of visualizing data could also be seen in this way, as human actors find new ways to exercise agency in relation to data, thus finding the grounds for a “new political [data] imaginary” (Gibson-Graham 2006, xix). Van der Velden (2015, 11) argues that where there is an “unequal distribution of power over data,” which disadvantages populations, technologies that can redress the balance are necessary for those in pursuit of social justice, and visualization can be understood as one such tool. Examples include visualization agencies such as Periscopic, mentioned above, but also social justice and human rights inspired initiatives around information/visualization advocacy, such as the Tactical Technology Collective’s Visualising Information for Advocacy book (2013) and project (n.d.).…”

Deepfakes, misinformation and disinformation and authenticity infrastructure responses: Impacts on frontline witnessing, distant witnessing, and civic journalism

“…These processes attempt to turn the “risky subject matter” of metadata that can be gathered on location, creator, and other sensor-based indicators from “a surveillance risk into a method for the production of public proof” as “material that can be used for evidence production” (van der Velden, 2015: 2).…”