Journal Entry, Week Two

Journal prompt: What new avenues or angles of research have you discovered while searching for information on your topic?


"And the biggest challenge isn't the processing of evidence. Data is data, they (providers) just copy and paste what they have on file.

It's the interpretation of it once received by law enforcement (needing an expert to testify in court) and overcoming the pushback from the providers over privacy concerns that are the hardest hurdles (the Apple iPhone saga that was in the news recently).

Just some food for thought as you develop questions. (R. Davy, personal communication, April 15, 2016)"

            The above quote came from an email from a prosecuting attorney who has agreed to speak with me on what he has experienced to be challenging when using social networking forensics as evidence to prosecute a crime.  I had emailed him stating, "It will be interesting to hear your point of view since not having evidence processed correctly can be detrimental when it comes to using it as evidence."  His reply back to me made me realize that what I believed to have been one of the biggest challenges of using social networking forensics as evidence to prosecute (or defend against) a crime, may have been a misconception.  I had not really considered what it would take to find an expert to testify in court or what challenges might arise in how the data is interpreted.  

            Another angle that Davy (2016) mentions is that pushback from providers over privacy concerns.  While I had previously considered how privacy laws concerning the individual or defendant might cause some challenges to collecting evidence and using it as evidence, I was more focused on an individual’s rights than on a company’s obligation to protect its customers data. 

            This email correspondence has definitely given me more “food for thought” as I move forward in my research.  I will definitely be looking into more of the challenges that arise during prosecution phases when using social networking forensics, and will be giving more considerations to what obligations an organization has to protecting its customers and what obligations it has to release personal information and data to the government for use in prosecuting crimes.