Form · Incoming evidence — deepfakes & synthetic documents
Metadata comparison schedule for a digital file
Schedule comparing what a party claims about a digital file with the properties of the file actually held: names, times, hashes, device fields and software marks, for a lawyer to read before any authenticity step.
- Kind
- Form. A form to complete, or a guide to completing an official one.
- Where it applies
- Commonwealth, New South Wales, Victoria, Australian Capital Territory, Northern Territory, Tasmania
- AI use
- Yellow You and the tool draft together, with you directing. You check every statement you rely on.
- Law stated as at
- 22 October 2026
- Status
- Maintained. Checked on 22 October 2026 against the 5 authorities it cites, for 6 jurisdictions.
- Version
- 1
- Source
- Written for this library
When to use it
Use when a produced file, a screenshot or a recording does not match the account of how it was made or kept. It is an internal comparison. It is not a finding that the file is synthetic, and it is not a letter to the other party.
Used for these tasks
- Compare claimed source metadata with the file actually produced
- Build an authenticity checklist for a key digital exhibit
Each task page says how far AI may help with the task and what the lawyer must review.
How AI may be used
An approved tool may copy file properties and hashes into the schedule columns, and the lawyer decides what any mismatch means and whether a request under s 167 is warranted.
AI may
- Copy filename, extension, file size, created and modified times, and a hash from an approved export into the schedule.
- Place the other side's description of the file, taken from a letter or a list of documents, in the claimed column beside the matching property.
- List properties that are blank in the export.
AI must not
- Must not describe a mismatch as proof that the file is forged, deepfaked or unreliable.
- Must not run the file through a public generative AI tool to test whether it is synthetic.
- Must not fill the lawyer's conclusion column.
The lawyer checks
- Each property was taken from the file in the firm's custody, and the hash method is named.
- The claimed column quotes the other side's document, not a paraphrase that improves it.
- The conclusion says only what the lawyer is prepared to put in advice, and whether a s 167 request or an expert is the next step.
Method: how the Green, Yellow and Red levels are decided. This is guidance for planning, not legal advice.
Read the full text
The full text is available after you log in. It is free. When you log in you can:
- read the whole precedent, with its drafting notes beside it;
- copy it, or download it as a Word file or Markdown;
- add it to your firm’s knowledge base, so colleagues can find it;
- let the AI tools you connect read it from that knowledge base.
The summary, the law it rests on and the AI-use guidance above stay public. Privacy.
More in Incoming evidence — deepfakes & synthetic documents
- Deepfake and synthetic evidence authenticity checklist (images, audio, video and documents)
- Federal Court checklist: generative AI and evidentiary material
- Letter requesting native files, metadata and device examination (Evidence Act s 167)
- NSW Supreme Court limits on generative AI in evidentiary material
- Production-set log for candidate synthetic or altered media
- Letter instructing a digital forensics expert on suspected synthetic or altered media
- Protocol for exchange of native electronic files where authenticity is in issue
- NSW gate before compelled or suppressed material enters a generative AI program
- Client warning letter on AI-fabricated or altered evidence
- Letter asking that devices and native files be preserved
- NSW verification of citations and evidence references in written submissions
- Digital evidence intake and chain-of-custody record
- Response sheet: suspected non-consensual intimate deepfake
- Outline of submissions objecting to evidence suspected to be AI-generated or altered
All precedents for Incoming evidence — deepfakes & synthetic documents · Tasks and AI use in this area