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EXIF Geolocation & Alibi Timeline

Run the EXIF Geolocation & Alibi Timeline MicroSim Fullscreen

About This MicroSim

Every photo carries a hidden logbook called EXIF metadata — the moment the shutter fired, the device that fired it, and, if location services were on, the GPS coordinates where you were standing. Investigators, this MicroSim hands you five recovered photos and lets you do what a digital-forensics analyst does: line the metadata up in time and space and see where a device really was.

Each photo drops as a numbered pin at its GPS place on a schematic map with four labeled locations — Home, Downtown, Crime Scene, and Park. A faint dashed route connects the photos in time order, so you can watch the device travel across the afternoon. A suspect claims they were home all day; turn that claim on and the tool tests it against the metadata, photo by photo.

The map is a schematic — a plain grid, not a real street map — so the focus stays on reading metadata and reasoning about it, not on geography.

How to Use It

  1. Drag the Time slider to scrub through the afternoon (9:00 to 16:00). The photo whose timestamp is nearest the slider is highlighted in orange, and its full EXIF — timestamp, GPS location, and device model — appears in the Photo EXIF panel on the right.
  2. Press Play timeline to auto-advance the slider and watch the device move from pin to pin. Press it again to pause.
  3. Turn on Show claimed location (Home all day). A ring is drawn around Home — the suspect's claimed spot for the whole day.
  4. Watch for the moment the highlighted photo's GPS is not Home. The tool raises a red ALIBI CONTRADICTED banner and names the exact place and time the metadata puts the device somewhere else.
  5. Press Reset to return the slider to the start and clear the claim.

Learning Objective

Analyze (L4). After using this MicroSim, investigators can read EXIF timestamp, GPS, and device fields; plot photos into a chronological timeline on a map; and analyze whether a device's location trail contradicts a suspect's claimed location — while distinguishing what the metadata actually supports (the device was there) from an over-broad claim (the person was there).

You can embed this MicroSim on your own web page with this iframe:

<iframe src="https://dmccreary.github.io/forensic-science/sims/exif-map-plot/main.html"
        width="100%" height="570" scrolling="no"></iframe>

Lesson Plan

Audience: High-school forensic science (grades 9–12) Time: 15–20 minutes Bloom level: Analyze (L4) — plot EXIF GPS points over time and test whether the timeline contradicts a claimed alibi.

Warm-up. Ask investigators: "Every photo carries a hidden logbook. Besides the image, what does a phone quietly record each time the shutter fires, and how could that help or hurt a suspect?"

Guided questions:

  • Scrub the time slider and read the EXIF panel. Which three fields is the tool using, and how do the timestamp and GPS together let you place the device in space and time?
  • Turn on the "Home all day" claim and play the timeline. At what moment does the alibi break, and what exactly contradicts it?
  • The metadata shows the device was at the crime scene. Why is it an over-reach to conclude the person was there?

Extension. Discuss how EXIF metadata can be stripped or forged, and why a defensible analysis pairs metadata with other evidence rather than trusting it alone.

References

Specification

This MicroSim was generated from a specification in Chapter 15: Digital Forensics and Cybercrime Investigation.

Design note: the map is a schematic grid and the five photos are stylized for teaching — coordinates and timestamps are chosen to make the alibi contradiction clear, not drawn from real device data.