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Preserve online material as a forensic record, not as a screenshot alone. Download the highest-quality original you can lawfully obtain, save the live page and surrounding context, record the URL and every relevant time, preserve metadata, calculate hashes, maintain a chain-of-custody log, corroborate who made the material and where and when it was recorded, and protect people who could be harmed by collection or disclosure. A preserved file is not automatically authentic, admissible, or proof of a war crime.
What preservation can—and cannot—establish
An online video, social-media post, or webpage can support a specific proposition: for example, that a particular account displayed a video at a particular time, or that a scene appears to show a location. Your job is to preserve both the digital object and the facts needed to test that proposition later.
Preservation does not by itself prove that the uploader filmed the event, that the file is unedited, that the displayed date is accurate, or that the conduct meets the legal definition of a war crime. Authenticity, reliability, responsibility, and admissibility are separate questions for the relevant court, prosecutor, commission, or investigative mechanism. Berkeley’s Protocol on Digital Open Source Investigations (2020) and the WITNESS Video as Evidence Field Guide provide a professional baseline for collection, verification, ethics, and safety.
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Before you collect: define the question and assess risk
Write the proposition first
State what the item might prove in one sentence. Examples include: “This recording may show damage to a named facility on 12 March,” or “This post may establish that an account claimed responsibility before the event was reported.” A precise proposition determines what context, corroboration, and witnesses you need.
Make a safety plan
- Identify risks to the filmer, victims, witnesses, investigators, and people whose faces, voices, usernames, or locations appear.
- Do not expose a person merely to obtain a higher-resolution file. The Berkeley Protocol expressly includes digital, physical, and psychosocial safety.
- Use informed consent for interviews and explain possible disclosure, translation, and publication before recording.
- Decide whether public release is necessary. A secure transfer to an accountability body may be safer than posting the material.
- Use an account and device that do not reveal a vulnerable source’s identity, and avoid collecting unrelated personal data.
Step 1: capture the original and its surrounding context
For a video, image, or social post
- Open the canonical URL and note the platform, account or channel name, profile URL, post or video ID, and any displayed verification indicators.
- Record the exact displayed date and time, the displayed timezone or your best determination of it, and the date and time of your capture in UTC. Preserve the platform’s original wording as well as your UTC conversion.
- Download the highest-quality original offered by the platform or source. Do not use a screen recording as a substitute when an original download is available.
- Save the post text, caption, hashtags, replies, comments, linked material, subtitles, translations, and visible engagement or edit notices that help explain context.
- Capture the page as it appeared: take a full-page screenshot and, where feasible, save a PDF and the page’s HTML or a WARC archive. Keep the URL and capture timestamp in a separate text record.
- Keep the downloaded file as an untouched master. Make a working copy for playback, transcription, frame extraction, or enhancement.
For a webpage
Save more than the rendered pixels. Use the browser’s print function to create a PDF, take a screenshot showing the address bar and page state, save the HTML and linked assets when lawful and technically possible, and record any embedded media URL, author, publication date, update date, and visible revision notice. If the page is dynamic, note which sections loaded, which required interaction, and what was unavailable.
Minimum capture record
| Field | What to record |
|---|---|
| Source | Canonical URL, platform, account or channel, post/video ID, and access method |
| Time | Displayed publication or upload time, displayed timezone, and your capture time in UTC |
| Content | Original filename, file size, format, duration, visible text, captions, replies, and linked items |
| Collector | Stable evidence ID, collector or system, device or browser used, and collection purpose |
| Availability | Whether the item was public, login-gated, removed, edited, or blocked; preserve error pages and notes |
Step 2: preserve metadata and make integrity checkable
Separate masters from working files
Copy the original into controlled storage and mark it read-only where your system permits. Never crop, transcode, rotate, denoise, add subtitles, or change filenames on the master. Give every derivative a new evidence ID and record exactly how it was made. Retain the original container and codec even when a second format is needed for review.
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Extract without overwriting
Run metadata tools against a copy or in read-only mode. Record file size, format, codec, duration, creation and modification fields, GPS or device fields when present and safe to retain, platform identifiers, and evidence of re-encoding. Metadata can be missing or altered; it is a clue that must be tested against other information, not a guarantee of truth.
Calculate cryptographic hashes
Hash every master and every controlled copy immediately after acquisition and again after transfer. A hash lets another person check whether the bytes changed; it does not identify the uploader or prove that the content is truthful.
sha256sum original-video.mp4
sha256sum webpage.pdfGet-FileHash .original-video.mp4 -Algorithm SHA256
Get-FileHash .webpage.pdf -Algorithm SHA256Store the hash output with the evidence ID, algorithm, date and time in UTC, and the operator or system that produced it. If a hash changes, stop, preserve both versions, and document the transfer or transformation that caused the difference.
Step 3: maintain a chain-of-custody record
Use one stable identifier for each master. Log every access, copy, export, conversion, annotation, and transfer. Keep the untouched master separate from analysis files and preserve platform response pages, download receipts, API responses, and notes about material that was unavailable or changed.
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| Log field | Example of the information required |
|---|---|
| Event | Acquisition, copy, transfer, playback, transcription, frame extraction, or conversion |
| When | UTC date and time, plus the local time if it matters to the source record |
| Who or what | Person, account, workstation, script, or storage system performing the action |
| Purpose | Preservation, verification, disclosure, or a specified analytical task |
| Source and destination | Original URL or storage location and the destination location or recipient |
| Integrity | Hash before and after, algorithm, filename, size, and resulting evidence ID |
| Tool and result | Browser, command, application version when known, and whether the action succeeded or produced an error |
Keep at least two controlled copies in separate locations. Restrict write access, record who can read or export the files, and test that backups can actually be restored. WITNESS identifies metadata management, organization, backup, chain of custody, and format migration as core archiving tasks.
Step 4: verify provenance, time, place, content, and linkage
Provenance and source identity
- Ask who created or first published the item and whether the account is authentic, impersonated, compromised, or an anonymous re-uploader.
- Check whether the file is an original, a compilation, a clipped excerpt, or a re-encoded copy. Compare upload history, filenames, perceptual similarities, and earlier versions without replacing the master.
- Preserve account biography, profile URL, post ID, edit history, and surrounding posts that may reveal the source’s relationship to the event.
Time
Separate at least three times: the event time claimed by the content, the platform’s upload or publication time, and your capture time. Record the displayed timezone and convert to UTC while retaining the original display. Treat a platform timestamp as a claim to corroborate, not as an independent clock. Compare shadows, weather, lighting, traffic, known broadcasts, and other contemporaneous records where safely available.
Location
Geolocate visible landmarks, road layouts, signs, terrain, architecture, uniforms, and language. Compare them with maps, satellite imagery, and independent photographs or videos. Note uncertainty and alternative locations; do not publish precise coordinates if doing so could expose a victim, witness, or military position.
Content and editing
Review the entire file, not only a viral excerpt. Check cuts, missing audio, subtitles, translations, overlays, duplicated frames, and re-encoding. Preserve the original soundtrack and any accompanying transcript. If you enhance audio or video for analysis, keep the unenhanced master and document every filter, crop, or frame extraction.
Linkage and responsibility
Connecting imagery to an event is different from connecting an individual or organization to unlawful conduct. Use independent witness accounts, records of command or control, communications, and other evidence appropriate to the question. A public video may require reliability assessment, corroboration, or testimony; the applicable admissibility rules depend on the jurisdiction and receiving body.
Step 5: preserve testimony and ethical context
If you interview a filmer or witness, record informed consent, the person’s identity-protection choices, language and translation, interview conditions, and any incentives or limitations. Explain whether the recording may be shared with investigators, a court, journalists, or the public. WITNESS guidance covers preliminary interviews, ethical sharing, and using linkage and notice evidence to investigate responsibility.
Minimize identifying details in working copies and redact only on derivatives. Keep a protected, unredacted master when lawful and safe, and document who performed each redaction and why. Graphic or personally identifying material should not be published merely because it is available.
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Step 6: store and share through a controlled route
Before disclosure, assemble the master or verified evidentiary copy, hash report, metadata export, chain-of-custody log, capture notes, and verification analysis. Transfer them through an encrypted, access-controlled channel agreed with the prosecutor, commission, archive, or court. Confirm receipt and record the recipient, time, hashes, and any restrictions.
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eyeWitness to Atrocities describes a controlled-capture service that can collect date, time, and location metadata, secure footage in a gallery, transfer footage and metadata directly to an accountability body, and preserve chain-of-custody controls. Verify the app’s current behavior, security model, and institutional terms before relying on it; automated metadata does not replace independent corroboration or legal assessment.
Platform-specific complications
Posts on social networks and messaging channels
Save the post ID, channel or account identity, replies, edits, quoted posts, and the exact page state. Record whether the timestamp is local, UTC, or relative (“2h ago”), and preserve a screenshot that shows the interface used to obtain it. If the post disappears, retain the capture record, downloaded file, hashes, and any lawful copies held by witnesses or archives; do not imply that an archived copy is the original platform record.
Video hosts
Download the highest-quality rendition offered by the host, record the video ID, title, description, upload and update dates, subtitles, and visible edit notices. Preserve the full duration and an uncut copy. A screen recording can document what a viewer saw when downloading was impossible, but label it as a derivative and retain the page capture and URL.
Dynamic or changing webpages
Capture the page at more than one time when updates matter, and record which assets were loaded or blocked. Save PDF, screenshot, HTML or WARC where feasible, plus text notes describing scripts, login state, localization, and missing resources. A later page revision must not overwrite the earlier capture.
Do-it-yourself browser capture procedure
- Use a clean browser profile with the correct timezone displayed by the page. Note the system clock and synchronize it before collection.
- Open the canonical URL, expand captions and replies, and wait for lazy-loaded media. Record the URL, account, post ID, displayed time, and capture time in UTC.
- Download the original through the platform’s own control when available. Save the response page or download receipt.
- Use the browser’s full-page screenshot and Print to PDF. Save page source or a WARC archive when feasible, and record failed resources or blocked content.
- Copy files into controlled storage, hash them, export metadata, and create the first chain-of-custody entry.
- Make a working copy for playback and analysis. Never annotate the master.
- Run provenance, time, location, content, and linkage checks, documenting corroboration and unresolved uncertainty.
- Package the verified copy, hashes, metadata, capture record, and analysis for secure disclosure rather than public posting unless publication is necessary and safe.
Choosing a preservation approach
| Approach | Strengths | Limitations to manage |
|---|---|---|
| Ordinary platform download | Preserves the offered media bytes and is usually quick | May omit page context, metadata, replies, and a chain-of-custody log; platform re-encoding may already have occurred |
| Manual archival workflow | Can combine original bytes, screenshots, PDF, HTML or WARC, notes, hashes, and controlled storage | Requires disciplined operators, repeatable records, backups, and secure handling |
| WITNESS field guidance | Practical preparation, collection, verification, transfer, consent, and ethical-sharing framework | Guidance is not an automated capture system and does not decide admissibility |
| eyeWitness controlled capture | Can automate date, time, and location metadata, secure gallery storage, server transfer, and chain-of-custody controls | Confirm current app behavior and institutional terms; metadata and automation still require corroboration |
Evaluate any workflow against preservation of original bytes, metadata completeness, alteration resistance, chain-of-custody logging, offline capability, source safety, webpage-context capture, export interoperability, corroboration support, and fit with the receiving court or investigative mechanism.
Why prompt preservation matters
Online material changes faster than an investigation can react. The Human Rights Center at UC Berkeley reported in 2021 that about 6,000 tweets were generated every second and 500 hours of video were uploaded to YouTube every minute. Deletion, account suspension, edits, recommender systems, and sheer volume can erase context or make later attribution harder. Preserve independently and document what was unavailable instead of waiting for a platform archive to remain accessible.
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Or skip the browser setup
ScreenshotNeo is a website screenshot API and MCP server. A GET request returns a PNG, JPEG, WebP, or PDF and can preserve a webpage view without building browser automation yourself. Its capture options include full-page shots with lazy images loaded, a CSS-selected element, dark mode, device presets or any viewport, retina scale, PDF paper size and margins, custom CSS and JavaScript, clicking an element, hiding selectors, waits for a selector, delay or network idle, blocking ads, trackers, requests or resource types, custom headers, cookies, user agent and Authorization, timezone and geolocation, transparent backgrounds, resizing, chosen caching TTL, signed links, asynchronous jobs with signed webhooks, bulk capture of up to 100 URLs per call, a usage API, and an OpenAPI specification. Parameter names used by other screenshot APIs also work, which can ease migration.
Use the API documentation at https://screenshotneo.com/docs/ to check request and response details. The following one-call examples target a public page; adapt the URL to the page you are preserving.
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open("shot.webp", "wb").write(r.content)const q = new URLSearchParams({ access_key: 'YOUR_API_KEY', url: 'https://stripe.com' });
const res = await fetch(`https://api.screenshotneo.com/v1/shot?${q}`);ScreenshotNeo accepts cookie and consent banners before capture and removes more than 60 known consent platforms, newsletter popups, and chat widgets; each cleanup step can be turned off. Only clean shots are billed. Bot checks or CAPTCHAs, blank pages, timeouts, failed loads, and cache hits cost nothing, and the response reports the result in X-Page-Verdict and X-Billed headers. An MCP server exposes take_screenshot, get_page_info, and capture_pdf to Claude, Cursor, and other MCP clients, so an AI agent can collect a page while your workflow records the URL and capture time.
| Plan | Allowance and price |
|---|---|
| Free | 1,000 shots per month; no card required |
| Starter | $5 for 3,000 shots |
| Growth | $15 for 15,000 shots |
| Pro | $39 for 60,000 shots |
| Scale | $99 for 250,000 shots |
| Business | $249 for 1,000,000 shots |
Yearly billing gives two months free, and every feature is available on every plan. An API screenshot is still a context capture, not the original platform database or a substitute for downloading the original media, hashing files, and maintaining a chain of custody. Preserve the API response, request parameters, returned headers, URL, and UTC capture time with your evidence record.
Start with ScreenshotNeo’s free account: 1,000 screenshots a month, no card required; paid plans start at $5 for 3,000 shots.
Troubleshooting and failure handling
The post or video was deleted
Keep the URL, post ID, capture attempts, error page, downloaded file, hashes, and notes about who observed it and when. Ask witnesses or investigators for lawful copies, but label each source separately and do not merge files without documenting provenance.
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Do not bypass access controls unlawfully. Record the block, preserve any publicly visible context, and use an authorized account or request the material from the rights holder. A failed attempt is part of the collection history.
The downloaded file has no metadata
Record that absence. Preserve platform identifiers and page context, then rely on independent time and location checks rather than inventing device or GPS information.
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The hash changed after transfer
Quarantine both versions, hash them again, identify the exact copy or conversion step, and update the chain-of-custody log. Never replace the earlier hash with the new one.
The content is too large to review
Keep the complete master, create documented review derivatives, and index timestamps, key frames, speakers, translations, and edits. A short excerpt must always point back to the full file and its hash.
Publishing could cause harm
Pause publication. Consult the receiving investigative body, redact working copies, remove unnecessary identifiers, and use a secure transfer when disclosure—not publicity—is the objective.
Legal and evidentiary limits
No universal rule makes an online file admissible in every court. Documentary and testimonial evidence may be treated differently, and spoken statements in a video may need separate authentication. Follow the procedural rules of the relevant jurisdiction or investigative mechanism, preserve the collection history, and be prepared to explain who collected the item, how it was preserved, what changed, and why the verification methods are reliable.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can a SHA-256 hash identify who uploaded a video?
No. It identifies a particular sequence of bytes. Uploader identity requires provenance records, account evidence, testimony, or other independent information.
How should I handle a platform timestamp that conflicts with local reports?
Keep the timestamp exactly as displayed, record its stated timezone, convert it to UTC in a separate field, and treat it as a claim to test against weather, shadows, witnesses, broadcasts, and other contemporaneous records.
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Yes. It can show the page state, account, surrounding text, and visible timestamp that the media file does not contain. Keep it as contextual documentation, not as a replacement for the original and its hash.
Quick Recap
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