Last updated: June 17, 2017
The following resources do not represent a comprehensive list. Rather, it is a selection of largely free online tools that we found the most useful in our day to day verification work. These are also the tools used in our step-by-step guide to assess citizen video.
Privacy, Protection and Professional Standards
- How to Protect Identities With YouTube’s Blurring Feature
- Professional standards for protection work carried out by humanitarian and human rights actors in armed conflict and other situations of violence (ICRC)
Reverse Image Search
- Google Images
- TinEye
- RevEye Reverse Image Search – Browser extension for multiple search engines
Data Viewers
- Image Forensics
- Find Exif
- Jeffrey’s Exif Viewer
- Invisor Lite (Mac)
- Opanda IExif (PC)
- VEREXIF – View and Remove EXIF Online
- Media Info
- YouTube DataViewer
- JPEGsnoop (PC)
Location
- Google Maps
- Google Earth – Provides several added values. For example, easy rotation of viewpoint and historical satellite imagery, allowing to go back in time
- WikiMapia – often provides greater geographic detail, and allows to easily search for categories, for example, mosques, hospitals,…
- Open Street Map
- GeoNames
- Syria specific: MapAction Syria Resources
People/Social Media Profile Searches
Advanced Online Search
Location based social media search
Video Analysis
Useful for simple manipulations and enhancements, such as adjusting brightness/contrast, slow motion or negative.
Archiving Video
Languages
- Google Translate – If using Chrome as browser, just use integrated functionality through context menu
Date & Time
- WolframAlpha – Especially useful for historical weather data
- Time Zone Converter
- SunCalc
Feature photo: Christoph Koettl
