Forensically Collecting Social Media Files for Litigation
The viral proliferation and ubiquitous usage of social media platforms has resulted in social media data becoming commonplace in litigation. The Lexbe forensic team consists of experts that are certified in the forensic collection of data from a plethora of sources, including social media platforms.
Our forensic investigators are adept at performing fully defensible data collections from the top social media platforms, including:
- Snapchat
- TikTok
- Others
Many social media platforms have evolved to include enhanced features like messaging capabilities, file transfers, content creation, location-based services, live streaming events, collaboration, and more, resulting in files that are often evidentiary in litigation.
Where is the Social Media Data Stored for Your Case?
While social media apps reside on mobile devices, many are simply interfaces to the cloud where most of the social media data is stored. Some social media apps also store data in encrypted databases that are resident on mobile devices. Depending on the custodians and the landscape of relevant electronically stored information (ESI), our forensic investigators will perform collections from the cloud and mobile devices to support your case.
The Scope of Social Media in Your Case
While the primary social media networking sites like Facebook and LinkedIn are frequent sources of evidentiary ESI in cases, other sources like online message boards, forums, and blogs are also categorized as social media and can be collected as evidence if needed.
Our forensic team is equipped with state-of-the-art forensic tools, like Cellebrite and Magnet Axiom, to provide the broadest scope of capabilities when it comes to social media collections.
The forensic tools utilized by our forensic investigators help organize social media data into a timeline which can be beneficial in understanding the social media activity associated with the custodians in your case. Our forensic investigators can conduct a comprehensive examination of the artifacts in the account, including:
Discuss the scope of your matter with a digital forensic expert today, commitment-free!
Public vs. Private Social Media Collections
When the custodian’s credentials are not available, you’ll likely have to conduct a public collection from the social media account. A public collection will acquire the publicly visible data associated with a user profile. Public social media collections include friends, timeline posts, and profile data. When an account’s security settings are set to “private” then the collection will be very limited because only friends and followers will have visibility to the account.
Private social media collections are more comprehensive and include all activity associated with a user’s account. Private social media collections include posts, comments, reactions, private messages, biographical data, location data, account information, and everything that’s included in the public view of the account.
Get a Complimentary Forensic Consult
If you have questions about social media forensic collections or any other electronically stored information, we’d be happy to schedule a complimentary consult call.
"*" indicates required fields
