There is growing digital dependence felt in different domains including the legal system (Sammons, 2012). We have even gone past the era when digital forensics only concerned personal computers; now, digital forensic investigation involves a wide variety of devices including smart phones, CCTV, and even those in third party devices like those operated by internet service providers (Horsman, 2022; Subramaniam, 2018). There is also a growing tendency to capture evidence in transit as data moves between network devices and voice call intercepts (with lawful authority to do so) (Subramaniam, 2018).
These advances in technology and the field of digital forensics have trailblazed in the legal system. Such advantages have been felt particularly for victims of online child sexual exploitation. Before, it was close to impossible to try a case against a child perpetrator without the child providing her testimony. Now, convictions are secured on criminal cases of internet child abuse even without a victim retelling the story because the devices instead may serve as the ‘star witness’. The results of digital forensic examination has been so comprehensive that child exploitation can be proven using the data extracted including image and video files of child abuse, chat logs of manipulation and grooming, internet browser history of visited restricted sites, and email traces of distributed child exploitative materials. It is acknowledged though that digital forensics is far from reaching the gold standard of a forensic science.
At the front line is the recurring question of scholars on the scientific base of the method. Of equal importance are questions of inconsistency, challenge of independence, and the legal and ethical issues of privacy. But, at least for purposes of this paper, what is undeniable is that digital forensics is making a difference in the lives of rescued victims of online sexual exploitation. On one end are the children rescued in one country because of the devices examined in another, and digital forensics played a critical role in that narrative. On the other end are the accused and others affected. The issues of scientific basis, inconsistency, and privacy are just as critical and should be addressed.