SWGDE Best Practices for Historical Cell Site Analysis
Scientific Working Group on Digital Evidence · Version 5.0, published 2026-07-09 · 2026
Identifier: SWGDE 17-F-001-5.0
Access and status
Cost
Free
Free to read or download at source. No account, no purchase.
Status
Current
Current as at the verification date below. Standards and tools both move — confirm at source before you rely on it.
What it is
SWGDE's guidance on analysing historical call detail records and cell site data to reason about where a handset was, and on the limits of that reasoning. The version verified here is 17-F-001-5.0 dated 9 July 2026; it has moved through four earlier versions since 2023, including a retitling from Recommendations to Best Practices.
Who it is for, and when
Read it before you accept or challenge cell site evidence, because it is the clearest free statement of what call detail records can and cannot support. The rapid version history is itself worth citing when an older report relies on superseded guidance.
What it does not cover
It addresses historical records, not live tracking, and not the separate question of reverse location demands — SWGDE handles those in 22-F-004 and 23-F-002. It gives no legal analysis of the process required to obtain the records, and its companion documents on timing advance records and RF propagation surveys cover techniques it does not.
Go to the source
Open at swgde.org (opens in a new tab)https://www.swgde.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/2026-07-09-Best-Practices-for-Historical-Cell-Site-Analysis-17-F-001-5.0.pdf
Details
- Type
- Standard or guidance
- Written for
- Working examinerLawyers and courtsWorking examiner, Lawyers and courts
- Publisher
- Scientific Working Group on Digital Evidence
- Version verified
- Version 5.0, published 2026-07-09
- Year
- 2026
- Identifier
- SWGDE 17-F-001-5.0
- Topics
- mobile, network, interpretation, expert-testimony, us-federal
- Checked at source
- Standards are revised. Confirm the current revision with the publisher before citing this.
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