The Criminal Justice and Courts Bill is to make the posting of “revenge porn” a specific offence. The new law in England & Wales describes revenge porn as “photographs or films which show people engaged in sexual activity or depicted in a sexual way or with their genitals exposed, where what is shown would not usually be seen in public”.
The case for such prosecutions may seem clear, but establishing exactly who uploaded the videos or pictures is not necessarily straightforward. Was it necessarily the ex-boyfriend? Were the pictures already more widely circulated? Did someone else have access to his account and post maliciously? In Court, without forensic help, it is likely to come down to one person’s word against another’s.
Digital Forensics can help uncover the clues. In the case of material uploaded to popular websites, such as Facebook, we can examine the IP Address logs associated with the account to identify any unusual activity. We have had a number of cases where Facebook activity has subsequently been traced back to an unexpected IP Address.
Many offences falling into the category will not occur on Facebook, however, but be uploaded to dedicated pornography websites. These are usually based outside the UK. In such cases, a forensic examination of the protagonists’ computers or smartphones is required to establish which has been involved, not only in relation to the pictures themselves, but to examine communications before and after the event which we have found may provide a different perspective to the case alleged.
If you would like to discuss any forensic issues in relation to computer examinations, or revenge porn in particular, please contact our digital team in the Durham office: either Computer Expert Ross Donnelly or Mobile Expert Thomas Marryat.