Cell Phones for Children – A “Catch-22”?
Most parents buy cell phones for their children so they can just be a phone call away. But just a phone call away from whom?
Actual New Jersey Legal Case:
After months of badgering, New Jersey Legal client “Joe” bought cell phones for his children. We’ve all heard the lines: “Just think, you’ll always be able to get in touch with me.” “All of my friends have cell phones.”
Joe’s children were so excited and were constantly talking on their cell phones. They no longer made calls on the kitchen phone, and if they received calls, they would tell the caller to call back on their cell phones. Joe started to feel a little out of touch with his children and their friends.
Within six months, Joe noticed a change in his children. They rarely talked on their cell phones, and if they did, they would quickly hang up if their parents came into the room. They only communicated via text message, using abbreviations and symbols that most parents don’t understand. They had withdrawn from the family and even seemed secretive. Joe’s wife thought it was just “a phase.”
Curious and a little concerned, Joe occasionally checked his kids’ text message logs, which his wife thought was an invasion of their privacy. The logs were always empty, which he thought was odd, since they were constantly texting. Joe wondered if they might be hiding something.
Having read information on our website about cell phone forensics, Joe brought in both cell phones for forensic restoration of text messages and other data that the kids had deleted. We restored the deleted data, set up our forensic review tool so Joe could easily sort and flag any messages or photos he wanted, and printed the results of the cell phone forensics in PDF form.
Joe left our office visibly shaken. What he discovered would rock the world of any parent: restored photos showed his son and a friend playing with a semi-automatic gun; restored text messages revealed that his 13-year-old daughter was in a sexual relationship with a much older boy.
Joe’s wife felt that Joe had violated their children’s trust. Joe feels that the use of cell phone forensics did what he thought the cell phones would do – keep his children safe.
Click here to learn more about cell phone/handheld device forensics.
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