EvidenceCam (photo evidence for iPhone & iPod Touch)

1. Header of photo contains GPS coordinates, street address (street name can be turned off for photos taken in open fields), time/date stamp. Time/Date stamp uses NTP (national time protocol) in UTC format. If NTP servers are unreachable, the device's time/date will be used in the header and will be signified using an asterisk * next to the time.

2. Footer of photos contains option for (a) add left-aligned text from a drop-down menu with the prefixes of #, File #, Case #, Report #, Project #, Subject, Victim, Suspect, and Witness; and (b) users to insert their own right-aligned identifying alphanumeric text.

3. GPS location can be refined only by up to 100 yards. If the user changes the location by more than 100 yards these changes are discarded.

4. Notes section allows user to input notes regarding photos for later reference.

5. Scanner allows to capture documents/photos using camera and converting them into PDF format for emailing.

*About UTC*

The app does not use the device's time or time zone because users can alter the date/time of their device, which resultantly changes the timestamp on the photo. This of course creates a significant issue regarding evidentiary integrity. Though you may not be using the app for evidence and only need a basic timestamp, the intended use of the app is for evidentiary purposes.

The app uses NTP (national time protocol), which uses the UTC international time standard. Due to the irregularity of the earth and the sun's movements, the exact time needs to be modified occasionally through the use of leap seconds. UTC provides this precise accuracy of time. UTC is based on zero degrees longitude and passes through the Greenwich Observatory so that atomic time is utilizes and leap seconds are added to the clock every so often. UTC was used beginning in the mid-twentieth century but became the official standard of world time on January 1, 1972.

UTC is 24-hour time, which begins at 0:00 at midnight. 12:00 is noon, 13:00 is 1 p.m., 14:00 is 2 p.m. and so on until 23:59, which is 11:59 p.m.

Because UTC time is indicated on the photo, users need to add/subtract their time zone differences to determine the image's local time. Users can find their time zone difference here: http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/converter.html

Obviously, it would not be fair to have the timestamp permanently maintain a specific time zone - others users in different time zones would not take kindly to this. UTC is the only time zone universally accepted around the World.