Barrister Jessica Sobey comments on the reliability of communications data used in criminal trials in Computer Weekly

 Barrister Jessica Sobey comments on recent reports of errors discovered in O2 phone data, and the risk that computer evidence presented as reliable may be fundamentally flawed.

Jessica’s comments were published in Computer Weekly, 9 April 2024, and can be found here.

It was recently reported that errors in communications data obtained from O2, affecting a handset’s International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) number, are fundamentally flawed. The fault means that communications could be attributed to the wrong handset, and may impact location data.

“With hundreds, if not thousands, of convictions hinging upon call data records and locations obtained from faulty software, the need for further scrutiny on the presumed reliability of computer-based systems and the ‘evidence’ that they produce cannot be understated,” Jessica explained.

“If there are software issues that are with the telecoms provider themselves, that wouldn’t necessarily be picked up by defence experts looking at the raw data.”