California Private Investigator Practice Exam

If a cell phone is on when you gather it, what should you do to preserve it?

1. Leave it on

2. Turn it off and remove the battery

3. Take a picture of the screen

4. Reset the device

The correct answer is: Turn it off and remove the battery

Turning off the cell phone and removing the battery is the correct approach to preserve the data on the device. This action minimizes the risk of data being overwritten or altered, which can occur if the phone remains on. When a phone is powered up, incoming notifications, updates, or even simple user interactions can change the information stored on the device. Therefore, shutting it down and removing the battery helps maintain the state of the phone at the time it was collected, which is crucial for preserving evidence in an investigation. The other options, such as leaving the phone on, taking a picture of the screen, or resetting the device, could compromise the integrity of the data. Leaving the phone on can lead to unwanted changes, taking a picture of the screen without further steps does not preserve the entire data set, and resetting the device would erase all data, making it impossible to analyze its contents later.