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WattShed Signal

Live, self-serve

Fraud-risk signals on evidence photos, without touching location.

Signal looks at a batch of evidence photos the way a skeptical reviewer would: has this file, or a barely altered copy of it, been submitted before, do two different files claim the same capture instant, did one application's photos come from a suspicious mix of devices, and was the evidence assembled over weeks rather than captured at a job. Every check runs on the photos' own bytes and metadata, in the reviewer's browser. Location and GPS are deliberately not part of the analysis.

What it does.

  • Catches byte-identical files submitted twice, inside one application or recycled across two.

  • Catches near-duplicates: visually matching images that are not byte-identical, compared by perceptual hash.

  • Flags two different files claiming the same capture instant, and photo sets spanning implausibly long periods.

  • Reports device consistency across an application's photos, using the same vocabulary as the rest of the platform.

  • Runs entirely in the browser. Photos are never uploaded, stored, or sent anywhere.

Who it is for.

Evidence reviewers

Run the skeptical pass on a submission in seconds, and reserve deep review for the files that earn a flag.

Utilities and public program administrators

Screen high-volume contractor submissions for recycled imagery before payment, without shipping photos to another vendor.

Funders auditing a program

Spot-check any two applications against each other for reused evidence, on demand.

How it works.

01

Load the photos

One application's photos, or two applications side by side to check for recycling between them.

02

Read the signals

Exact duplicates, near duplicates, timestamp collisions, device spread, and chronology, each pass, flag, or absent.

03

Escalate the flags

A flag is worth a second look, not a finding. Flagged files can go to Evidence review or a Liveness live capture session.

What it does, and what it deliberately does not.

Signal does

Reports deterministic risk signals with stated thresholds

Signal does not

Does not accuse, decide, or score a person

Signal does

Analyzes image bytes, timestamps, and device fields in the browser

Signal does not

Does not use location or GPS data in any signal

Availability.

The signal check is live today as a public self-serve tool, no account required, nothing uploaded. Wiring Signal into a program's Evidence review queue is arranged with WattShed directly.

The rest of WattShed Verification