Dashcam forensic investigation guidelines

Dashboard cameras (“dashcams”) have become an important in-car accessory used to record audio and visual footage of car journeys. Dashcams appear more often in digital investigations and will become more prevalent with the growth of autonomous vehicles. The audio/video footage produced by dashcams contain important items of evidence, including the routes followed by the motor vehicle, video footage of the road ahead, the road behind and the cabin, as well as audio footage of conversations within the car.

However, there exist no tools or guidelines on how these devices should be investigated, this could lead to cases of miscarriage of justice. This paper provides an overview of the key features of forensic interest within a dashcam device, followed by guidance on how to respond at a crime scene which involves a dashcam device and in particular how to preserve the evidence found therein.

This is followed by with guidelines on how to acquire the evidence in a dashcam device, the problems and challenges involved in the examination and analysis of dashcams, before finishing with a discussion around the reporting and presentation of dashcam evidence.