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Washington Journal of Law, Technology & Arts

Chisup Kim

Abstract

The internet has become more ubiquitously available than ever before, with search engines serving as the portals to an unparalleled amount of information. As a byproduct of this phenomenon, a vast amount of internet search history has also begun to enter legal proceedings as evidence. The most intimate questions that defendants have asked their search engines have begun to be examined under the scope of the Federal Rules of Evidence or a state equivalent. This Comment examines the admissibility of internet search history and provides a general legal framework based on the Federal Rules of Evidence. Drawing upon six cases, this comment navigates the different ways that courts have determined relevance and probative value against their prejudicial effects. Following the introduction, the second section will provide background about the complex nature of digital evidence and a general overview of the Federal Rules of Evidence that will be discussed in subsequent sections. The third section of this Comment will examine six evidence cases that have specifically addressed the admissibility of internet search history. This section is divided temporally with two cases each addressing internet search history that occurred before, during, and after the alleged criminal activity. The fourth section restates the general evidentiary safeguards of internet search history based on these cases. Moreover, this fourth section also provides a suggestion to utilize the underlying technological ranking systems from internet search engines to provide a more objective basis when evaluating the admissibility of internet search history. Finally, the concluding section summarizes the general findings from the preceding sections.

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