Infotainment, Telematics, Event Data and Dash Cameras
Vehicle Forensics for Telematics, Infotainment and Crash Data Analysis
A modern vehicle keeps records the way a phone does. Paired phones, navigation destinations, telematics traces, event data and dash camera video show where the vehicle was, who was connected to it and what happened. Global Digital Forensics recovers those records with documented, repeatable methods and reconciles them into one timeline a jury can follow.
Examiners Who Can Read the Circuit Board
Global Digital Forensics, a practice founded in 1992, examines digital evidence for law firms, corporations and insurers, and our vehicle examiners are trained on the systems themselves rather than on one vendor's export. Veronica Perez, a Senior Computer Forensic Specialist, has experience that covers vehicle systems, her Teel Technologies training includes vehicle forensics, chip off and JTAG, and she has been designated as a digital forensics expert witness in state and federal courts. In a vehicle matter that matters, because the evidence often sits on a circuit board rather than in a tidy file, and the person who recovers it has to explain to a jury how it got there.
When the question is the crash itself, the airbag control module and the event data recorder carry their own retrieval procedures. Our automobile and ECU forensics service handles that retrieval, and we plan the two examinations together so nothing on the vehicle is powered, moved or downloaded in an order that costs you the record.
The examiner who preserves the vehicle is the examiner who testifies about it. Get a free consultation and you will know who that is on the first call.
Map Every Place the Vehicle Left a Record
A vehicle is several evidence sources, not one. The infotainment head unit, the navigation system, the telematics unit, the control modules, the manufacturer's connected services account and every phone that ever paired with the car each hold a different slice of the story, and they keep different clocks and different retention. We map the event against those sources first, so you know what can be recovered from the car, what needs an authorized request to the manufacturer or the account holder, and what is at risk of being overwritten.
Before anyone touches the vehicle we confirm the make, model year, build date, market, module and software identifiers, the custody history, any repair or prior download and a safe method of access. We confirm the assigned examiner, current tool support for that exact vehicle and whether an electrical or crash reconstruction specialist should be present. That planning is what keeps the later cross examination short.
Planning references include the Bosch CDR 26.1 vehicle coverage list and manufacturer procedures such as the Tesla Model 3 service manual section on event data recorder retrieval.
If the vehicle is sitting at a body shop or a tow yard today, call (800) 868-8189 before it is moved or powered and we will build the map with you.
The engagement
What the Vehicle Saw That Witnesses Did Not
Infotainment systems store paired phone identities, contact and call history, navigation destinations, recent locations, Bluetooth device names and, on some platforms, message or notification artifacts. Telematics services exchange driving events, location traces and vehicle state records with the manufacturer's cloud. An event data recorder or another control module keeps a short window of data around a triggering event, and dash cameras and factory cameras hold their own recordings. Every one of those records was written by a machine with no stake in the outcome, which is why juries give them weight.
We establish what is present on the vehicle at issue, preserve each source with hash verified imaging where the tools support it, and reconcile the vehicle's own record with the manufacturer's cloud record where both exist. The report is written for the personal injury, product liability, criminal defense or insurance matter in front of you, and it keeps what the vehicle recorded distinct from what the surrounding services recorded.
Current retrieval tools support head units and connected services across platforms such as Ford SYNC, Stellantis Uconnect, GM infotainment, Toyota, Honda and Acura, Hyundai and Kia, Nissan, Volkswagen and Audi MMI, BMW iDrive and Tesla, along with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto artifacts and factory and aftermarket dash cameras. Support is confirmed for the exact make, model, year and firmware before acquisition, so you know the plan works before the car moves.
Scope
Infotainment forensic acquisition
Acquisition of the head units current tools support, which span Ford SYNC, Uconnect, GM, Toyota, Honda, Hyundai and Kia, Volkswagen and Audi MMI, BMW iDrive and Tesla infotainment, covering navigation history, paired device history, call and contact records, media and application artifacts.
Telematics and connected services examination
Analysis of manufacturer telematics records such as FordPass, Uconnect, OnStar, Toyota Connected Services, HondaLink, Bluelink and the Tesla app where the record supports it, reconciled against the vehicle's own data.
ECU, EDR and CAN bus data
Event data recorder downloads where the retrieval tool supports the vehicle, control module fault codes and freeze frame data, and CAN bus captures during targeted testing when the matter and the safety conditions allow it.
Dash cam and factory camera analysis
Factory dash cam and integrated camera recordings, single and multiple channel aftermarket cameras, memory card imaging, container integrity analysis and timeline reconciliation against telematics and infotainment records.
Tesla vehicle log analysis
Examination of available gateway or diagnostic logs, Sentry Mode and Dashcam media, Tesla app records and manufacturer produced records, with fields such as state of charge, driver interaction and driver assistance events decoded for the vehicle and period at issue.
Reporting for injury, liability, defense and insurance matters
Reports scoped to the retaining side's questions, with the vehicle evidence stated in the units the matter needs: time, speed, brake state, steering angle, throttle percentage, location and connected device identity.
Chain of custody and preservation programs
Field preservation of vehicles under conditions approved by counsel, storage protocols for vehicles after a collision, consent handling for event data downloads and documented custody transfers.
To find out which of these records still exist, get a free consultation and describe the collision or the dispute.
Methodology
From Retention to the Witness Stand
Retention and vehicle intake
We take the retention letter, clear conflicts across the manufacturers and telematics providers involved and write a scope note naming the vehicle systems and the preservation conditions before the first download.
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Preservation and acquisition
We acquire supported infotainment sources with integrity values recorded, download event data under supported procedures, image dash cam media and, where authorized, examine the paired phones, because the phone often explains what the car recorded.
Reconciliation and analysis
We reconcile the vehicle records with telematics subpoena returns and paired device evidence, state every time zone convention and answer the alternative explanations for each event on the record, before the other side raises them at deposition.
Report and testimony
A written report and, when the matter reaches it, deposition and trial testimony built on that report, delivered by the examiner who did the work.
Bring the vehicle details, the event date and your deadline to a free initial consultation and we will plan preservation around them, or call (800) 868-8189.
Evidence commonly examined
Vehicle Records We Examine
We examine infotainment images and memory cards from supported vehicles, telematics subscriber records produced under subpoena, event data recorder downloads taken with supported tools and manufacturer procedures, dash camera media and internal storage images, Tesla vehicle and gateway logs with the matching app records, and paired iOS and Android phones where authorized. The work runs within the court orders, protective orders and any vehicle specific ESI protocol that governs the matter.
What you can expect
What the Vehicle Report Delivers
A written report scoped to the technical questions of the retaining side, an event timeline appendix reconciling vehicle, telematics and paired device records, an event data appendix stating the tool version, retrieval method and validation, and deposition and trial testimony. When the other side has its own vehicle expert we prepare a rebuttal declaration, and we build demonstratives sourced to the vehicle and cloud records so a jury can see what the car saw.
Frequently asked
Infotainment, Tesla Logs and EDR Downloads
Which infotainment platforms can you examine?
Ford SYNC generations, Stellantis Uconnect, GM infotainment, Toyota, Honda and Acura, Hyundai and Kia, Volkswagen and Audi MMI, BMW iDrive and Tesla infotainment, where the tools support the specific model year and firmware. We confirm support against the exact vehicle before the engagement is accepted, so nobody discovers a gap after the car has been moved.
Can Tesla vehicle logs actually be preserved?
Often. What survives depends on the vehicle generation, its software, its condition and retention. Available gateway or diagnostic logs, Sentry Mode and Dashcam media and app records can be preserved under a documented procedure, and for records the manufacturer holds we help counsel or the account holder frame the disclosure request.
Do you work only for personal injury, or product liability and criminal matters too?
Personal injury, product liability, insurance and criminal defense matters alike, because the records inside the vehicle do not change with the caption on the case. A conflict check runs before any engagement is accepted.
How does infotainment data hold up on cross examination?
The report preserves the original retrieval files, tool output, parameters and interpretation notes so another qualified examiner can review or repeat the analysis, and every opinion is tied to the record that supports it. That is also why preservation comes first: a later acquisition depends on the state the vehicle is in by then.
Can an EDR download be run at a body shop, or does the vehicle need to come to a lab?
When it is safe and the retrieval tool supports the specific vehicle, the download runs on site under approved conditions. When the vehicle is unsafe to power or the module needs bench work, the vehicle or the module moves to a controlled setting, and the move itself is recorded in the chain of custody.
Free consultation
Preserve the Vehicle Evidence Your Case Turns On
On the first call a senior examiner takes the make, model year, the event and where the vehicle sits now, tells you what to hold today, confirms tool support for that vehicle and outlines the preservation, the analysis and the report.
Hotline answered 24/7.
GDF does not accept pro se litigation cases, and GDF may decline matrimonial or family law cases at our discretion.
Reviewed by Joseph Caruso, Founder, CEO and CTO, CISSP. Last reviewed .