Digital Forensics: How Producing Text Messages and Facebook Can Assist with OFPs, Restraining Orders, and Discovery in Divorce Cases By: John Carney, Esq. Tel: (651) 695-1757 Email Mr. Carney Website: www.carneyforensics.com

A. Mobile Phone Market Penetration and Growth in U.S.

Skyrocketing Subscribers¹

• Today, there are more than 292.8 million wireless subscribers - 93% of the total U.S. population. Only 37% used mobile phones back in 2000.
• 24.5% of U.S. households are - "wireless-only" according to the CTIA.
• Smartphone shipments overtook PCs in Q4 2010 on a worldwide basis.
• Engadget Mobile reports a study from mocoNews.net predicting 100% mobile phone penetration in the U.S. by year 2013.²

B. Text Message Usage in U.S.

1. Text is the New Talk: More than 384 billion text messages were reported by carriers this year [2008] between Jan. 1 - June 30, versus 295 billion voice calls. That is 22 billion more text messages than for all of 2007. Text messaging is doubling every year. ³
2. 173.2 billion text messages were sent monthly in 2010.
3. 1.81 trillion text messages were sent on an annualized basis in 2010.
4. Text messaging is doubling every year.
5. Three studies label text messaging "addictive" behavior citing users' need to remain connected. The new terminology for this phenomenon is "reachability".

C. Mobile Phone Prevalence and Use in Civil Cases

Digital systems are found in a number of casual consumer tools, including cellular telephones. Their prevalence in society is matched by a growing presence as evidence in civil court cases.

A search of - cell or cellular w/3 telephone or phone within reported United States District Court opinions over a ten-year period shows dramatic growth in the number of cases in which these devices were considered to be relevant to legal proceedings. This is detailed in Figure 1.⁵

These cases represent both criminal and civil matters with cellular telephone references for conversations, possession, use, and stored data. A sequential examination of the first one hundred such cases from May 1, 2004, to May 1, 2005, found that approximately two thirds were related to civil actions. A similar search of federal appellate decisions found 219 cases over the same time period with similar references; of these, only one addressed a challenge to the admissibility of the cell phone evidence.⁴

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