Parvin Moyne Comments on the Use of Social Media Posts as Evidence in Criminal Investigations
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Akin Gump litigation partner Parvin Moyne has been quoted in the New York State Bar Association article “Catching Up to Technology: Using Social Media Posts as Evidence.” The article reports on a recent webinar in which Moyne participated, titled “Criminal Investigations and Social Media, Geolocation, and the Capitol Riots,” that looked at how social media content and geolocation data can be used by prosecutors to bring criminal indictments. (Click here to learn more.)
The article used the January 6 riots at the U.S. Capitol to illustrate how images and videos posted on social media could be used as evidence to press charges. Moyne, a former federal prosecutor, pointed out, though, that many smartphone users are unaware of how much data they share and how, simply because a phone established they were near the scene of a crime, they could be brought in for questioning.
The article notes that the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2014 that the government needs a warrant to collect cell-site data—the third time the Court ruled against the government in a technology case.
Moyne said that with technology changing and law enforcement using new technology to help with investigations, “the courts are really struggling with the traditional framework of what do people expect to be private when it comes to their smartphones.”
