تسجيل الدخول

تسجيل

TRANSPORTATION

المؤلف:  Max M. Houck، Jay A. Siegel

المصدر:  Fundamentals of Forensic Science

الجزء والصفحة:  p611-612

2026-09-08

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TRANSPORTATION

Digital evidence must be packaged for safe transportation back to the laboratory. Despite some impressive designs, digital devices are still fragile and, if broken, may be useless as evidence. As noted, digital evidence is also subject to damage or contamination from magnetic fields, radio frequencies, and temperature extremes. It is

good practice to place digital devices into antistatic bags and then place these into shock-resistant and water-resistant containers. Storing digital devices in the laboratory poses certain problems. Digital evidence can decay like any other kind of evidence; magnetic storage, like hard drives, begins to degrade almost immediately and may lose integrity after 5 years or so. CDs and DVDs can also degrade, called “disk rot,” due to the oxidation of the reflective layer or exposure to ultraviolet light (present in sunlight or indoor lighting), which damages and decomposes the adhesives holding the layers together. Digital devices should be stored in rooms insulated against stray radio and electrical fields; proper packaging that blocks light and water is necessary for longer term storage.