Mobile, intelligent and autonomous policing tools and the law

This thesis resolves around problems arising for the existing legal framework from the use of novel software-­‐based policing tools during criminal investigations. The increasing dependence on information and communication technologies and the Internet means that more aspects of people’s lives move online, and crime follows them. This has triggered the development of innovative, autonomous investigative technologies that are increasingly replacing human officers for the policing of the online sphere. While only recently discussions of the legal status of embodied and unembodied robotical devices have gained more widespread attention, discussions of the legal status of autonomous agent technology are not new. They have focussed however in the past on applications in the private domain, enabling contract formation online. No systematic study has so far been carried out that looks at the use of autonomous agent technology when deployed by state actors, to fulfil core state functions. This thesis starts with the hypothesis that the use of automated, intelligent devices to replicate core police functions in the online world will increase in the future. Looking at first emerging technologies, but with an eye towards future deployment of much more capable software tools that fulfil policing functions on the Internet, this thesis looks at the challenges this poses for regulators and software developers. Based on extensive qualitative research interviews with stakeholders from two different jurisdictions (Germany & UK) this thesis finds that these novel policing technologies challenge existing legal frameworks, which are still premised on the parameters of the offline world. It therefore develops an alternative governance model for these policing tools, which enables their law-­‐compliant use and prevents rights violations of suspects. In doing so it draws upon both worlds, the technical and the legal, while also incorporating the empirical research results from the interviews with experts. The first part of this thesis analyses the technical foundations of these software-­‐based policing tools. Here, one of the key findings is that the current governance system focuses on ex-­‐ante authorisation of very specific, individual software tools without developing a systematic classification. This contradicts the principle of sustainable law making. To overcome this piecemeal approach, as a first contribution to existing research this work defines a new class of investigative technologies – mobile, intelligent and autonomous (MIA) policing tools ‐ based on the findings of the technical analysis. Identifying such a natural class of present and future technologies that pose the same type of legal issues should facilitate the sustainable governance of these new policing tools. The second part of this thesis analyses two specific legal issues: cross-­jurisdictional investigations and the evidentiary value of the seized data. These issues were identified as most pressing by the experts interviewed for this work. This analysis reveals that investigative activities of MIA tools are potentially in conflict with international law principles and criminal procedure law. In order to gain legitimacy, these new policing tools need to operate within the parameters of the existing legal framework. This thesis argues that given the unique technical capabilities of MIA tools, the primary approach to achieving this is to assign legal responsibility to these tools. The third part of this thesis develops a novel governance approach to ensure that MIA tools operate within the parameters of the legal framework, and therefore obtain legitimacy and relevance, also with regard to the investigative results. This approach builds on existing research identifying code as a regulatory modality and contributes to the field of legal theory. It constitutes a solution for the governance problems of MIA tools, however, it requires currently lacking collaboration among stakeholders and cross-­disciplinary research

Educating the effective digital forensics practitioner: academic, professional, graduate and student perspectives

Over the years, digital forensics has become an important and sought-after profession where the gateway of training and education has developed vastly over the past decade. Many UK higher education (HE) institutions now deliver courses that prepare students for careers in digital forensics and, in most recent advances, cyber security. Skills shortages and external influences attributed within the field of cyber security, and its relationship as a discipline with digital forensics, has shifted the dynamic of UK higher education provisions. The implications of this now sees the route to becoming a digital forensic practitioner, be it in law enforcement or business, transform from on-the-job training to university educated, trained analysts. This thesis examined courses within HE and discovered that the delivery of these courses often overlooked areas such as mobile forensics, live data forensics, Linux and Mac knowledge. This research also considered current standards available across HE to understand whether educational programmes are delivering what is documented as relevant curriculum. Cyber security was found to be the central focus of these standards within inclusion of digital forensics, adding further to the debate and lack of distinctive nature of digital forensics as its own discipline. Few standards demonstrated how the topics, knowledge, skills and competences drawn were identified as relevant and effective for producing digital forensic practitioners. Additionally, this thesis analyses and discusses results from 201 participants across five stakeholder groups: graduates, professionals, academics, students and the public. These areas were selected due to being underdeveloped in existing literature and the crucial role they play in the cycle of producing effective practitioners. Analysis on stakeholder views, experiences and thoughts surrounding education and training offer unique insight, theoretical underpinnings and original contributions not seen in existing literature. For example, challenges, costs and initial issues with introducing graduates to employment for the employers and/or supervising practitioners, the lack of awareness and contextualisation on behalf of students and graduates towards what knowledge and skills they have learned and acquired on a course and its practical application on-the-job which often lead to suggestions of a lack of fundamental knowledge and skills. This is evidenced throughout the thesis, but examples include graduates: for their reflections on education based on their new on-the-job experiences and practices; professionals: for their job experiences and requirements, academics: for their educational practices and challenges; students: their initial expectations and views; and, the public: for their general understanding. This research uniquely captures these perspectives, bolstering the development of digital forensics as an academic discipline, along with the importance these diverse views play in the overall approach to delivering skilled practitioners. While the main contribution to knowledge within this thesis is its narrative focusing on the education of effective digital forensic practitioners and its major stakeholders, this thesis also makes additional contributions both academically and professionally; including the discussion, analysis and reflection of: - improvements for education and digital forensics topics for research and curriculum development; - where course offerings can be improved for institutions offering digital forensic degree programmes; - the need for further collaboration between industry and academia to provide students and graduates with greater understanding of the real-life role of a digital forensic practitioner and the expectations in employment; - continuous and unique challenges within both academia and the industry which digital forensics possess and the need for improved facilities and tool development to curate and share problem and scenario-based learning studies

The use of serface fuintionalised silica nano-particlate powders for the identification of gunshot residues from fingerprints

Gunshot residue (GSR) mixture consists of partially burned particles of propellant and characteristic particles of elements originating from the primer, bullet, propellant and some additives in the propellant. Since Harrison and Gillory [1] drew forensic scientists’ attention to the fact that GSR contained trace amounts of inorganic compounds such as lead, barium and antimony, a number of analytical techniques have been tested trying to find and establish sensitive, selective and reliable methods to identify and analyse gunshot residues. The standard procedure for the analysis of gunshot residues involves imaging these small metallic particles using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and subsequent compositional analysis using Energy Dispersive X-ray Analysis (EDX). This study focuses on the analysis organic compounds in GSR. It is motivated by the increasing need to overcome the problems with the analysis of lead-free ammunitions. A comprehensive literature review was performed in order to determine the most commonly encountered organic compounds in GSR. These compounds include diphenylamine, methylcentralite, ethylcentralite, nitroglycerine, 2-nitrodiphenylamine and 4-nitrodiphenylamine. It has been clearly demonstrated using standard materials and appropriate calibration curves that gas chromatograph and mass spectrometry (GC/MS) is capable of providing limits of detection that are consistent with the concentrations of the key organic constituents found in gunshot residues. Furthermore, we have demonstrated that the relative concentrations of seven key components can be used to provide branding information on the shotgun cartridges. A strong relationship was found between the chemical composition of fired and unfired powder. Therefore, it is possible to differentiate between two ammunition brands through the analysis of the organic constituents. Traditional fingerprint powders such as titanium dioxide, aluminium, carbon black, iron oxide, lycopodium spores and rosin are used to enhance fingerprint left at the scene of crime. More recently nanoparticles have been demonstrated to be highly effective for the enhancement of the fingerprints [2]. Silica nano-particulates of defined size and shape were synthesised and functionalised with two different functional groups (phenyl and long chain hydrocarbon) using a Tri- phasic Reverse Emulsion (TPRE) method. These nano-particulates were characterised using scan electron microscope (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), elemental analysis, particles size analyser, BET surface area and solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. These powders were used as an effective agent to visualise latent fingerprints on different surfaces. Furthermore, they have been utilised to absorb any organic materials within the fingerprint from the discharged of weapon. Analyses of the adsorbed organic residues were performed using GC/MS and Raman spectroscopy. The results showed that the synthesised silica nano-particulate fingerprint powder gave better result in term of their ability to absorb organic materials in GSR and enhance the visualisation of the latent fingerprint compared to a single commercial powder

Forschungsbericht Universität Mannheim 2008 / 2009

Die Universität Mannheim hat seit ihrer Entstehung ein spezifisches Forschungsprofil, welches sich in ihrer Entwicklung und derz eitigen Struktur deutlich widerspiegelt. Es ist geprägt von national und international sehr anerkannten Wirtschafts- und Sozialwissenschaften und deren Vernetzung mit leistungsstarken Geisteswissenschaften, Rechtswissenschaft sowie Mathematik und Informatik. Die Universität Mannheim wird auch in Zukunft einerseits die Forschungsschwerpunkte in den Wirtschafts- und Sozialwissenschaften fördern und andererseits eine interdisziplinäre Kultur im Zusammenspiel aller Fächer der Universität anstreben