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Digital traces are increasingly being used as evidence in criminal trials. Web searches, for example, are sometimes presented as evidence to support an accusation of involvement in a criminal project. While these searches are valuable tools in investigations, their numerous limitations severely limit their usefulness in securing convictions. After outlining the three main types of web searches, we discuss the limitations involved in using Google searches as evidence and suggest ways to ensure that the results of Google searches can provide probative evidence.
On a de plus en plus recours aux traces numériques dans les procès criminels. Les recherches sur internet, par exemple, sont parfois présentées à titre d'éléments de preuve afin d'étayer une accusation relative à la participation à un projet criminel. Tandis que ces recherches constituent des outils importants dans le cadre d'enquêtes, leurs nombreuses limites restreignent grandement leur utilitédans l'obtention de déclarations de culpabilité. Après un aperçu de trois principaux types de recherches sur le web, les auteurs analysent les limites inhérentes à l'utilisation de recherches sur Google à titre d'éléments de preuve et proposent des méthodes permettant de s'assurer que les recherches sur Google constituent des éléments de preuve probants.
ENSURING THE PROBATIVE VALUE OF WEB SEARCHES AS DIGITAL EVIDENCE
Digital traces - the results or remainders of an activity observable in digital space - are increasingly being used as evidence in criminal trials. Given the amount of digital data and the speed at which new technologies are evolving, forensic investigators and analysts will continue to need digital forensic software. Such software, however, is typically used to find, acquire, classify, and organize files, not to explain how they came to be on a hard drive or mobile device, how they should be interpreted, or if they support investigative hypotheses. Such analysis requires other investigation techniques. This is where digital forensic examiners, analysts, and investigators come in. Because many of the digital traces extracted from a hard drive or mobile device can be interpreted in different ways, how they have been captured and preserved needs to be carefully considered. This is particularly true for traces coming from the use of Google, one of the Web search engines most often used in criminal trials.
A Web search begins by typing words or...