724.1Digital Evidence

Generally

Digital evidence may be defined as data stored on electronic devices, such as computer hard drives. See Orin S. Kerr, Searches and Seizures in a Digital World, 119 Harv. L. Re. 531, 537 (2005) (“data stored on computer hard drives and other storage devices”); see also Jeffrey B. Welty, Digital Evidence, 155 (UNC Sch. of Gov. 2015) (“electronic evidence”). “This includes material downloaded from websites, e-mails, text messages, instant messages, data from GPS devices, computer animations and simulations, digital photos, and enhanced images.” Steven Goode, The Admissibility of Electronic Evidence, 29 Rev. Litig. 1, 2 (2009). In general, digital evidence is subject to the same basic evidentiary requirements that govern the admission of other evidence. Id. at 7 (“existing rules of evidence are adequate to the task”).