Extract from David Horrigan’s article “Beyond Alex Jones and the Secret Service: The Law and Technology of Texts in E-Discovery”
The modern mobile phone is a wonderous thing. It’s computing capacity is greater than mainframe computers of not that long ago—and what you’ve heard about it being more powerful than the computers NASA used to get humans to the Moon? That’s true, too.
Such computing prowess comes with legal considerations, especially when the devices carry a veritable cornucopia of private data. Mobile phones and their text message output have made the news recently in the Alex Jones imbroglio, a continuation of e-discovery gone wrong in the case, to the disappearing texts of the U.S. Secret Service.
Over the past several years, the U.S. Supreme Court has given broad protection to the personal information in mobile phones when it comes to criminal matters.
But what about mobile phones and their text messages in e-discovery?
Text messaging has come a long way since Canadian engineer Neil Papworth sent the first text, a message reading, “Merry Christmas,” on Dec. 3, 1992. Text usage has skyrocketed over past 30 years, and there are now an estimated 23 billion texts sent worldwide each day.
In this article, we’ll look beyond conspiracy theories and Secret Service slip-ups—or subterfuge, depending on one’s perspective—to take a look at the law and technology of texts in e-discovery.
When your iPhone becomes an appealing target for opposing parties in civil litigation—where constitutional protections are not as robust—how do the law and technology of texts play a role?
