Trust & Security
Lawful use guardrails
Operate PhotoRec only on hardware you own or are explicitly authorized to touch. Follow jurisdictional rules around evidence handling, workplace policies, and contractual data limits.
Ethical scope
The tools exist to reunite people with their data—not to bypass privacy, steal trade secrets, or bypass DRM. If a scenario feels questionable, pause and obtain written approval.
Open verification
PhotoRec and TestDisk remain stewarded by CGSecurity. Public sources let researchers diff releases, reproduce builds, and reason about behavior without marketing fog.
Malware posture
Official binaries are clean; skepticism is still healthy. When scanners bark, compare vendor write-ups, validate checksums, and download from distribution points you trust.
Operator accountability
You decide when to run carving jobs, where outputs land, and how to inform stakeholders. Maintain backups, document chain-of-custody when needed, and never improvise on someone else’s data without consent.