Mobile Forensics: Extracting Geo-Location Data from Photos on Android Smartphones

With the rapid advancement of technology and communication, smartphones have become ubiquitous, offering functionalities such as geo-location-based photo capturing through GPS and navigation applications. Digital forensic examiners can retrieve location data from Exchangeable Image File Format (EXIF) metadata embedded in photos, commonly referred to as “geolocation,” which is crucial in criminal investigations. Modern Android smartphones and digital cameras store GPS coordinates in every captured photo, allowing forensic analysts to leverage this information to solve cases. This paper demonstrates the process of manually extracting geographical identification data (latitude, longitude, altitude) from raw image files using Hex editor tools and validating the results with Google Maps. These methods aid forensic investigators and law enforcement agencies by providing evidence that can be presented in court.