Invisible boundaries: Balancing Image metadata privacy with forensic Imperatives

Metadata provides a wealth of information that is invaluable for digital forensic investigations, but it also poses significant privacy risks. The varying degrees of metadata retention across social media platforms have significant implications for digital forensic investigations. Metadata plays a crucial role in constructing timelines, verifying data authenticity, and providing evidence of interactions. In this research, we investigate the handling of EXIF metadata by various social media platforms and assess the implications for user privacy and digital forensic investigations. Our findings underscore the critical need for specialized software to manage and remove metadata from images uploaded to social media, preserving user privacy while retaining necessary data for legal and forensic purposes. To address these concerns, we implement a framework for encrypting and decrypting metadata, ensuring that sensitive information can be protected before images are uploaded to social media platforms. This research aims to encapsulate the findings and emphasize the need for balanced solutions that respect user privacy while supporting forensic investigations.