Empowering justice: The evolving landscape of cellphone analysis in modern criminal investigations and evidentiary collection

• Citation: (2023) 36 SACJ 434
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.47348/SACJ/v36/i3a4
• Published date: 13 March 2024
• Pages: 434-461
• Author: van Rooyen, D.A.
• Date: 13 March 2024

Empowering justice: The evolving

landscape of cellphone analysis

in modern criminal investigations

and evidentiary collection

DA VAN ROOYEN* and JS HORNE**

ABSTRACT

In the wake of rapid technological advancement s, there has been a

remarkable increase in t he adoption of mobile devices, also profound ly

altering the manne r in which individuals u se their cellphones. This

technological shif t, accompanied by increased f unctionality and p opularity

of cellphones, provides law enforcement agencies with new avenues for

investigative approaches, notably in the real m of mobile forensics. This

article explores mobile forensics as a c rucial tool for gathering ev idence

in crimin al investigations. Drawing f rom in-depth ana lysis, qualitative

interviews with t he South African Police S ervice (SAPS) investigators

and detective branch comm anders, digital forensic investigators/analyst s,

prosecutors from the Nationa l Prosecuting Authorit y (NPA), a cellphone

record analyst, and an exam ination of local and inter national literature, the

study underscores the sign icant role mobile forensics plays in effec tive

crime investigation. It advocates for enh anced traini ng of investigators to

align with evolving technolog y, emphasising the need for law enforcement

agencies, particula rly the South Afr ican Police Service (SAPS), to adapt and

advance their investigative techn iques in the face of ongoing technological

transformation. U ltimately, the article aims to demyst ify mobile forensic

analysis, offering in sights to aid South African investigators in re ning their

investigative practices.

1 Introduction

In the contemporary digital landscape, the popularity of cellphone

usage has seen a remarkable upsurge, propelled by incessant and

ever-evolving technological advancements. This surge has not only

transformed communication and business practices but also displaced

various functions previously handled by personal computers.

Cellphones are now used for a wide range of activities such as email

* PHD CJU Candidat e, Department of Pol ice Practice, School of Cr iminal Jus tice,

University of South A frica.

* DLitt et Phil: Police Sc ience (Unisa); Associate Profes sor, Department of Police

Practice, School of Cr iminal Justice, University of Sout h Africa.

https://doi.org/10.47348/SACJ/v36/i3a4

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(2023) 36 SACJ 434

© Juta and Company (Pty) Ltd

communication, le transfers, internet browsing, and more, evolving

with computer-like capabi lities.1 As electronic devices continual ly

advance and safeguard user data, the signicance of digital evidence

in criminal investigations has become increasingly paramount.2

Mobile forensics is described as a process whereby cellular-related

data is recovered by employing forensically sound methods, by means

of detailed cellphone investigations relating to the acquisition of the

cellphone data.3 T he vast amount of information that can be stored on

cellphones has led to the signicance of mobile forensic investigations,

which focus on extracting and retrieving data from cellphone devices,

as well as SIM cards.4 From a digital perspective, cyber and cellphone

related crime has recently increased sign icantly compared to previous

years, and criminals have also adjusted to the changes in technology,

which worsens the crime problem facing South Afr ica. Consistent with

institutional responsiveness to the moder n-day digital era, the justice

system and its prosecutorial authorities are progressively relying on

digital evidence, such as cellphone records, to prove the accused’s

participation in incidents of crime, which has enhanced the capabilit y

of the crime investigation process itself.5

Many experts believe that the use of technology is the hallmark of

modern-day cri me investigation, due to the ever-changing sophistication

1 M Al-Hadadi a nd A AlShidhani ‘Smart phone forensics analysis: A case study’ (2013)

5 Internat J Comp & Electr Eng 576-58 0; A Abdalla h, AM Alam in and ABA Musta fa

‘A survey on mobile forensic for android sm artphones’ (2015) 17 IOSR J Comp Eng

15-19; A Ali et al ‘Towards adapting metamo deling approach for the mobile forensics

investigation domai n’ in Z Mohamed et al (ed) 1st ICRIL-International Conference

on Innovation in Science an d Technology ( lICIST2015) (2015) 364-368; MW Graves

Digital Archaeolog y: The Art and Science of Digital Fore nsics (2013) 307.

2 KM Hess, CH Ort hmann and HL Cho Police Oper ations: Theory and Prac tice (2013)

375.

3 J Bair Seeking the Truth fr om Mobile Evidenc e: Basic Fundament als, Intermedi ate

and Advanced Over view of Current Mobile Fo rensic Investigations (2017) 4; Ali et al

op cit (n1) 1.

4 R Tamma and D Tindall L earning Android Forensi cs: A Hands-On Guide to Andr oid

Forensics, Fr om Setting up the Foren sic Workstation to Analy sing Key Forensic

Artefa cts 2ed (2015) 1; R Tamma et al Practical Mob ile Forensics: A Hands- On Guide

to Mastering Mobil e Forensics for the iOS, Android, and Win dows Phone Platforms

3ed (2018) 25; R Tamma et al Practical Mobile Fore nsics: Foren sically Investigate

and Analyze iOS, Android , and Windows 10 Devices 4ed (2020) 6.

5 A Phillips Brown E- discover y: An Introduction to Digital Ev idence (2013) 3;

JJordaan ‘Digital fore nsics and cybercr ime’ in RJ Zinn and S Dintwe (eds) Forensic

Investigation: Legislative Pr inciples and Investigative Pra ctice (2015) 361 at 363;

HC Lee and EM Paglia ro ‘Forensic evidence and cr ime scene investigation’ (2013)

1 J Forensic Investig 1 at 3; HT Lochne r, BC Benson and JS Horne ‘Mak ing the

invisible visible: The pre sentation of electronic (cellphone) evidence as real ev idence

in a court of law’ (2012) 25 Acta Criminologica 69; J P Swanepoel, S Lötter a nd

MKarels Policing and the L aw. A Practical Guide (2014) 307; HJN Van Rooyen The

Practitioner’s Gui de to Forensic Investigation in South Afr ica (2012) 3.

Empowering justice: The evolving landscape of cellphone analysis

in modern criminal investigations and evidentiary collection

435

https://doi.org/10.47348/SACJ/v36/i3a4

© Juta and Company (Pty) Ltd