Understanding Computer Forensic And Probable Cause
With the ever growing demand for computer forensics, there is a question that often arises. Is it allowable to let a law enforcement agent just take your computer? Those that are guilty or presumed to be will likely have their computers used as evidence against them.
Forensic teams will pull out all types of data from the computer, things that most think are no longer there. This information can be processed or used to further construct a case against an individual, if there is information there that can lead to this.
Probable Cause
For any law enforcement individual to confiscate and use a computer against you, they will need to have probable cause. Like any other type of case, the goal is to have something tangible or suspected that allows them to believe that perhaps something illegal is happening. Just like any other piece of evidence, it is important for the law enforcement individuals to follow the letter of the law to provide for a warrant or probable cause before they can just take a computer to use computer forensic technologies on it.
- They may determine if the hardware itself is able to be seized. For example, the computer may be stolen.
- They may determine that the software on the computer should be seized, if they believe it to be used illegally or to house illegal information.
- They may determine that the data on the computer is what is valuable and should be seized.
Any of these situations will still need to be shown to have probable cause of a crime being committed. Without probable cause, these items can not be used with computer forensics unless someone that owns them or has the rights to them gives permission for this to happen.
Although computer forensic teams will be able to pull considerable information from a computer, they must still do it in the proper manner to insure that it is legal and that the information obtained can be used as according to law.
