Wearable Devices: A Wealth of Digital Evidence Right at Your Fingertips
The use of wearable devices has significantly increased over the past few years. From fitness trackers to smartwatches, people rely on these devices to capture and monitor their physical activity levels, sleep patterns, heart rates, and more. As these devices become more prevalent in our everyday lives, they could become an invaluable source of potential digital evidence in civil litigation cases and criminal investigations. With the capability to prove whether or not a person was in the area during a crime and establish a pattern of behavior, wearable technology can make or break a case.
How a Wearable Device’s Biometric and Location Data Supports Digital Investigations
Wearable devices are designed to track various biometric and location data — both of which can aid in digital investigations. Fitness trackers and smartwatches are popular tools for monitoring biometrics, including heart rate, calories burned, sleep cycles, and body temperature, among others. With the help of biometric data, legal professionals can support or refute claims related to health issues, accidents, and more. Digital forensic experts can collect the evidence in a forensically sound way so as not to spoil the data and ensure it remains intact for the subject matter expert.
Just like biometric data, location data from wearables can provide crucial evidence, especially when paired with other information. Wearable devices track a user’s whereabouts in real-time using GPS technology, which can be used to verify the user’s alibi or their claims in a court of law.
Even Deleted Data Can Be Extracted From Wearable Devices With Digital Forensic Techniques
Fitness trackers, smartwatches, and other types of wearable devices store data on their internal memories as well as a mobile device or cloud. This is fantastic news for legal professionals, as it affords them a variety of ways to collect digital evidence. Even if data is accidentally or intentionally deleted, it can still be recovered using digital forensic techniques such as advanced extraction methods.
Our cell phone forensics experts can recover deleted data from a mobile phone and analyze it alongside wearable data to create a complete picture of the user’s activities. This comprehensive data could include the user’s physical movements, including locations visited, times spent there, and physical activities performed, among others. With the right forensic hardware and software, legal teams can build a strong case.
Collect Evidence From Wearable Technology With the Support of Cornerstone Discovery
When collecting data from wearable devices, digital forensics experts must adhere to steps that are repeatable, reliable, and forensically sound. At Cornerstone Discovery, our specialists have undergone extensive training to handle, collect, safeguard, and report digital evidence in a defensible manner. As a result, we have the knowledge and expertise to navigate the challenges of collecting data from wearable devices and will help you successfully resolve your case. As a full-service litigation support and trial presentation company, we can also help your team present the data retrieved in a clear, engaging, and compelling manner to the court.
With wearable devices holding a wealth of digital evidence that can support investigations, professional e-Discovery services become more essential than ever. Reach out to the experts at Cornerstone Discovery today to uncover the valuable information that may be hiding in the claimant’s wearable device.
