More than 23 billion text messages were sent from cell phones daily in 2023. Consequently, the collection of messages will likely be a topic of conversation during a litigation or investigation. After balancing the issues of the case, the ability to obtain information from other sources, the potential relevance of cell phone data, and the time consuming and costly nature of cell phone collection, collection may be needed. Proper data collection and handling of messages is difficult, especially without a vendor qualified to handle this type of data. This is compounded by the fact that sending and receiving messages can occur over a wide variety of communication platforms, with more coming online every year.
