Any one tendering digital evidence as testimony must lay down proper foundations for its admission by the Court. Courts want assurance on the reliability of such digital evidence. Earlier Courts used to insist on a more comprehensive foundation for authentication of digital evidence.
However, as Courts got used to digital documents with increasing computerization of society, it has gradually become liberal regarding admission of digital evidence as testimony. The overall crystallized view of the Courts now is that digital evidence is admissible like any other compilation of hard copy documents.
Still comprehensive foundation for authentication of digital evidence is recommended as a good practice to ensure its reliability. The different elements of such foundation include the mode and manner of feeding data into the computer, the checks in place to insure accuracy of the entered data, data storage methods, the reliability of the computer program used to process the data and the measures taken to verify the accuracy of the results of the program.
