General data protection regulation: an algorithmic proposal for forensic photography

Since 2018, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) has regulated personal data within the scope of the European Union. With the exponential technological advancements in mobile photography, it is crucial to expose forensic professionals to this body of law to maintain good practices for fieldwork and scientific research in this field. GDPR, as far as its application in forensic photography, can be broken down into four pillars: informed consent of the subject, acceptable image capture practices (data), data storage and security at rest, and data transfers and security in transit. All these pillars have different approaches currently in use by forensic professionals. However, only some of them are permitted under the law. We present the appropriate ways to proceed with smartphone photography while remaining in compliance and maintaining the ability to share data critical to fieldwork and scientific research. In addition, some of the common pitfalls are described. An algorithm is proposed to facilitate compliance with European regulations relating to personal data, as applied to mobile forensic photography. The same flow chart can be used in other countries with different regulations concerning health data, privacy, and security issues.