Digital evidence is legally acceptable information that is stored or transmitted in binary form; binary information on a certain court case is only accepted as digital evidence if it is reliable or of it has probative value. Examining digital evidence requires the use of computer hardware devices and software algorithms specially designed for that role. In contrary, real evidence or ‘hard’ evidence is accompanied by physical documents or pictures which can be physically examined by the court.
Unlike real evidence, digital evidence is easily distorted, invisible and concealed in nature. Owing to these facts, reliability of digital evidence depends upon several parameters which do not apply when it comes to real evidence. To preserve its probative value, precautions should be taken to prevent alteration of digital information. Generally, acquisition, protection, assessment and transfer of digital information should follow certain universally accepted quality control practices which are set up and maintained by edict enforcement and forensic bodies so as to warrant accuracy and dependability of this type of evidence.
The digital world is very volatile; acceptable standard operating procedures which guide various actions performed on digital evidence must be reviewed yearly. At every step, all the procedural steps taken on digital evidence have to be noted down so that they can act as testimonies. Digital evidence calls for use of appropriate software and hardware; the person handling this information should also be an expert in digital information handling. If there is a likelihood of damage or alteration of the information, only experts are allowed to handle the specially designed equipments.
In conclusion, digital evidence may look simple to acquire or keep but maintaining its legal relevance is not an easy task; professionalism has to take charge. Though digital evidence is more involving compared to real or ‘hard’ evidence, the point remains that both have to be reliable and accurate for them to be legally relevant.
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