Forensic Boundaries

Technical & Forensic Disclaimer

Effective Date: March 28, 2026

1. Metadata vs Pixel Classification

MetaClean operates exclusively at the container and header level of image files (such as EXIF segments, XMP packets, IPTC headers, PNG textual chunks, and C2PA JUMBF boxes).

Third-party AI detection tools, platform algorithms, and forensic evaluators frequently employ machine-learning classifiers that evaluate visual artifacts in the pixel grid (e.g., skin textures, background repeating patterns, noise frequency distributions) or scan for proprietary steganographic watermarks (such as Google SynthID).

Removing metadata will not alter or remove these pixel-domain characteristics.

2. Truthful Product Claims

MetaClean rejects misleading industry claims such as "make AI images 100% undetectable" or "bypass all AI filters." We provide technical transparency so creators, journalists, and privacy advocates understand exactly what data is in their files.

3. C2PA Interpretation Notice

The presence of a C2PA Content Credentials manifest does not automatically signify that an image is synthetic or AI-generated. C2PA is an open provenance standard used across photojournalism and hardware capture to verify authentic origin.