What you’ve mostly heard about private investigators is their on-ground abilities; observing the suspected person, using various surveillance methods, or taking pictures. However, there is another big aspect to their work that is the digital investigation. With almost all areas of work shifting to digital platforms, criminals too, are getting strong in the digital world. This is why private investigators are now focusing on gathering digital evidence. The information they acquire is used to solve family law cases, personal injury cases, employment cases, and in most cases to find or to trace a mobile number. 

 

Background

Technology is available in abundance on various mainstream platforms and channels. This has helped a lot of individuals to be able to assist others in several areas. Speaking of private investigators, they analyze texts, information uploaded on social media sites, photos, phone calls, websites, and all other documents on the computer to uncover various cases. These cases include a spouse being unfaithful to their significant other, a parent being negligent towards their children, or a business found committing foul practices. Since the authority of private investigators varies from region to region, it’s highly important that you check with the private investigator dealing with your case to know about their boundaries. 

Continue reading to learn how digital private investigators reveal significant shreds of evidence in such circumstances. 

 

 

  • Reviewing The Data Of Cell Phones

 

Gone are the days when a person would feel safe after just deleting a particular text message, photo, memos, call records, or any other detail from their gadgets. These days, private investigators are able to uncover all this information. PIs can acquire a great deal of information ranging from the activities of a person; who were they in contact with, the duration of their contact, the mode of their contact, the exact time of their contact, and even the matter/content of their discussion. 

 

 

  • Analysis Of Phone Records

 

When phone records are available, for example, if a spouse is the owner of the phone who has received a summoning to court for records, private investigators analyze all the data of the call. In such cases, they may look at the duration of calls. For instance, if the same calls are repeated or are being carried on for long durations at particular times like in the evening or on weekends, this forms a clear indication of cheating.

 

 

  • Reviewing Websites

 

When working through digital modes, private investigators log on to some websites to track the person they’re looking for. This person can be suspected to have a presence on that website. When the suspicion goes to adultery, private investigators can search dating sites, escort services, and other personal ad sites for that particular person’s personal profile. 

 

 

  • Social Media Channels

 

Social media is the most-used platform for every individual these days. This is why digital private investigators now often look into the activities of the suspected individual on their social media pages. The first thing PIs look for are the public posts published on the newsfeed, on a friend’s profile, or other public groups on Facebook. The relevant information is then printed out and shown in court proceedings to confront the other party. 

 

 

  • Photos

 

The use of photos in the investigation has been one of the oldest and most effective methods, and even in this digital era, this method hasn’t lost even an ounce of its significance. Private investigators start by conducting a basic search for photos posted online. They also go for reverse searching pictures or in other cases they especially look for photos on social media. 

 

 

  • Computers

 

Most private investigators check through an individual’s documents and record to reveal crucial information. Spouses looking for their partner’s unfaithful activities get this search conducted on computers that are either shared or in other cases, employers have it done on computers that their employee is using, and is owned by the company. Inspecting through the browsing history is the first step in the process. The information deleted intentionally can also be recovered by investigators. 

PIs usually trace Windows Artifacts, check the remaining data saved by the operating system, and several other locations to locate traces of all the information that was previously present on the computer. PIs also run a profusion of searches, which also includes emails. Furthermore, they analyze the usage of the internet to see the pattern this person was following; what sites they were commonly visiting.