Sandisk SD card can store tamper-proof photos for 100 years
SanDisk has started shipping a SD card that writes once and can store images and data for at least 100 years. The SD card is being used by police for tamper-proof forensic image archiving and SanDisk plans to target other industries.
These SD cards---dubbed WORM (write once read many)---are now being shipped in volume. SanDisk added that it has sold its WORM SD card to Japan's National Police.
According to SanDisk, the SD WORM card allows law enforcement officers to "create unalterable, permanent photographic records that serve as resources during investigations or as potential evidence during trials."
The card works like any other SD card where you plug it into a digital camera and later transfer images to a computer. The images taken on the card can't be altered. The WORM card can also be used to store witness interviews.
SanDisk is targeting law enforcement agencies with the WORM cards---at least at first. Typically, forensic images have been stored on 35mm film, which degrades. Japan has no statute of limitations for series crimes so the WORM card could come in handy if officials need to access images more than a few decades old.
The company said that its 100-year unalterable data storage claim is based on internal testing for SD cards stored at normal room temperature with humidity and static protection.
Although law enforcement agencies are the first target market for the SanDisk tamper-proof SD cards, the retail, legal and government sectors are likely to be interested in the technology.
