How to collect and sort out e-mails, audio and video recordings, SMS messages and photos?

At present, in the project, many quotation documents, negotiation changes, letters and telegrams are negotiated by mail and QQ documents, and relevant electronic materials become the only evidence to prove relevant facts. In addition, photos, audio recordings, videos and short messages on mobile phones are also common forms of evidence materials that can reflect the facts in the construction process.

Collection and arrangement of e-mail

In the process of construction, the most common electronic data evidence is email. E-mail can be used as evidence, but the probative effect of e-mail needs to be considered in combination with the formation process of e-mail evidence, whether it has been notarized, the content of e-mail, the identity of the sender and receiver of e-mail, and the corresponding relationship with other evidence, which may not be recognized by the court.

The main reasons include: first, the probative power of e-mail itself is weak. E-mail is obtained from the computer controlled by the general contractor. From a technical point of view, the general contractor can completely modify and edit the contents of the mail when extracting the evidence of the mail, so the owner often questions the authenticity of the mail. Therefore, in general, it is necessary to notarize the e-mail evidence. Second, the identity of the other party who exchanges emails is not clear. The sender and receiver of e-mail are usually anonymous. If the general contractor can't prove the identity and authority of the other party when using e-mail evidence, the owner will probably claim that he didn't send such e-mail, but the general contractor registered an e-mail account and forged the evidence. It is precisely because of the above reasons that if the general contractor only provides an isolated e-mail evidence, and the owner does not recognize this e-mail evidence, it is difficult to get court support only by this e-mail evidence.

But e-mail is, after all, the main platform for information exchange between the two parties in the construction process, and also the main form of evidence materials. The content of e-mail can basically reflect the owner's and the general contractor's expression of the relevant meaning of the construction project, and it is a legal form of evidence expression. Therefore, the general contractor should submit electronic evidence related to this case to the court to support his claim. When submitting e-mail evidence, you need to pay attention to the following:

First of all, e-mail notarization or authentication can improve the reliability and probative force of e-mail evidence to a certain extent through the necessary examination of e-mail by notaries or Certification staff. According to the Code of Practice for E-mail Authentication, appraisers should take the following steps when authenticating the authenticity of e-mail: (1) Understand the formation process of e-mail; Fixed secure mail; Search and recover e-mails and other related files and data stored on hardware devices according to relevant technical methods; Check and analyze the authenticity of the mail. In addition, e-mail notarization is also a legal means. Of course, due to the complexity of evidence involved in engineering cases and the low cost of notarization and appraisal, we can consider submitting only the e-mail itself in the first round of evidence submission. If the owner does not recognize the authenticity of the evidence, or for particularly important evidence, he will take the form of notarization.

Secondly, in addition to submitting e-mails, the general contractor should also actively seek other evidence materials, such as the owner's letters, recordings, mobile phone confirmation messages, etc. To prove the authenticity of the recorded content in the e-mail.

Finally, when dealing with e-mail evidence, we should also pay attention to the following matters: First, we should pay attention to the retention and backup of e-mail evidence. Second, for some important matters, the general contractor tries to handle them by paper mail at the same time, avoiding using only mail. Third, if the general contractor wants to communicate with the owner by e-mail, he should specify the official email address and email contact person designated by both parties in the contract or letter with the owner, and use the official email address to communicate, and avoid using personal email addresses such as QQ. Fourth, the general contractor can use electronic signature when communicating with the owner by email. Electronic signature technology is a security mechanism to solve information transmission in computer network. Theoretically, e-mail evidence with electronic signature can guarantee the integrity of the signed e-mail content, and the parties cannot deny its "signature", so e-mail with electronic signature has stronger probative power. Fifth, after the general contractor communicates with the owner by email, it is necessary to print out the email in time, sort it out in chronological order, and maintain consistency, so as to lay a good evidence foundation for future construction project claims. Sixth, when printing e-mail, the general contractor should pay attention to the integrity of e-mail screenshots to ensure that the printed e-mail can fully display the sender, text and all attachments of the e-mail.

Electronic document in word format

Letters or meeting minutes printed in word form sent by the general contractor to the owner cannot be used as evidence alone. Because word document is a word processing application on computer, it is generated by electronic technology and stored in digital form in various electronic equipment carriers such as disks, optical disks and memory cards. Word documents are easily tampered with, forged, destroyed or destroyed. After data or information has been tampered with artificially, it is difficult to find and judge if there is no copy or image file for comparison. Therefore, when the general contractor only submits letters or meeting minutes in the form of word, it is often questioned by the owner and supervisor, claiming that the word document is printed afterwards, not the original, and it is difficult to get the support of the court.

Countermeasures: First, the general contractor should pay attention to keeping the receipt record of word documents sent to the owner, which can be used as indirect evidence to prove the authenticity of word documents. Second, the general contractor can use electronic signature or notarization to enhance the reliability and probative force of word documents when sending them to the owner by e-mail. Thirdly, because word documents are easy to be tampered with, the general contractor should try to use paper and PDF when saving letters or meeting minutes. Fourth, although word documents are easy to be tampered with and have weak probative power, they belong to the category of electronic evidence stipulated in the Civil Procedure Law, and their contents involve construction projects. The letter or meeting minutes submitted by the general contractor in the form of word in the construction project claim is helpful to clarify the relevant facts and support his own views.

audiovisual aids

Audio and video recording materials are synchronized recording of audio and video in a specific environment by using specific equipment and technical means. Audio and video recordings are highly erasable and repetitive, and their contents are easily tampered with, while secretly recorded audio and video recordings may be suspected of infringing the legitimate rights and interests of the other party. Therefore, in the collection and preservation of audio and video materials, special attention should be paid to the following items:

First, try to use synchronous direct recording equipment with CD track digital encryption function to record independently, and use hard disk as synchronous storage of recording equipment. Because the CD itself has physical characteristics that cannot be edited manually, it can be used as the first original evidence, and the hard disk is only used for synchronous and independent backup, which not only ensures the authenticity and identity identification of the original CD as the first storage medium of evidence, but also prevents the CD from being switched, and at the same time avoids the suspicion of modification and the loss of the status of audio-visual evidence in the process of asynchronous conversion from hard disk to CD.

Second, try to find a quiet and undisturbed place to record and video to ensure better recording and video effects.

Third, in the process of audio and video recording, we should pay attention to explaining the time and place through the conversation, making clear the identity of each speaker and the relationship with the facts, using the full name as much as possible when speaking, focusing on the narrative, admission or denial of the facts, rather than entangled in the dispute over legal responsibility, so as to enhance the relevance and credibility of audio and video evidence.

Fourth, after the completion of audio and video recording, attention should be paid to preserving the original carrier of audio and video recording materials, and the recorded audio files should not be modified, edited or moved to computer hard disks, optical disks and other storage devices without authorization, in case the audio and video recording evidence is in doubt and loses its probative power.

Fifth, if necessary, you can ask the notary office to notarize the recording process to ensure the legality of the recorded evidence.

short message

As evidence materials, mobile phone short messages should be paid attention to when collecting and saving, including:

1. The general contractor shall specify the contact person and contact telephone number (mobile phone) officially designated by both parties in the contract or letter with the owner in advance, and use the official telephone number (mobile phone) to communicate, and avoid using personal telephone number (mobile phone); In the case of using private mobile phone short messages, we should pay attention to collecting relevant information such as the time of sending and receiving short messages and the relationship between sending and receiving short messages and the parties to the case.

Second, when saving the SMS, make sure that the location of the SMS has not changed, and the information sent (received) is always in the send (receive) box.

Third, it is necessary to print out the short message content, sender (receiver), sender (receiver) time, storage location and other related information in time to maintain consistency.

Fourth, when printing mobile phone short messages, we should ensure the integrity of the content of mobile phone short messages, including all the contents of short messages, as well as the sender and time of short messages.

Fifth, if necessary, you can apply for authentication and notarization of SMS. In addition, as short messages are not suitable as the basis for determining the facts of the case alone, they need to be reinforced with other evidence, so the general contractor should also actively seek other evidence, such as the owner's letters, recordings and emails. Through the mutual confirmation of evidence, strengthen the probative force of short messages.

digital photo

Matters needing attention when collecting and saving digital photos include:

First of all, arrange staff familiar with digital imaging technology and its equipment to shoot.

Second, try to choose a digital camera with higher pixels, and adopt different file formats and file sizes according to different needs to ensure image quality.

Third, when taking digital photos, we should pay attention to the interlocking from far to near. Digital photos of "far" scene should reflect the overall outline, the overall project (or the overall site), and digital photos of "near" scene should reflect the local whole (or site), and finally focus on specific matters to be certified.

Fourthly, the image format and content recorded by a digital camera should not be easily changed on the camera. If conditions permit, you can keep the original memory card, photos and digital photographic equipment of the digital camera for shooting.

Fifth, for the digital photo evidence obtained from the original shooting, the original image data in the memory card should be backed up immediately, and the name, date and endorsement related information should be signed by the recorder, relevant on-site personnel and the custodian, and then sealed and included in the file; For the digital photo evidence copied and extracted, the extraction time, source, extraction process, use method and extraction personnel should be marked in time to prove the authenticity of the digital photo evidence.

Sixth, when analyzing, measuring, enhancing and restoring digital images, we must ensure that the digital image processing technology adopted is scientific and reliable, and it is best to use professional image processing software and systems when processing images. Operators must record the image processing software, image processing methods and necessary procedures for generating the final image, such as recording the date and time when the image is saved and the storage personnel. Record the program used to process the image and the technology used to show whether effective programs and methods are used, and how each step of the program affects the image content, and allow the program to be repeated to obtain similar results; Records of image editing and processing shall be kept after the signatures, dates and relevant information of operators and supervisors are signed.

Seventh, if conditions permit, you can burn the photo evidence on the CD in time. The name and nature of the case, the time and place of the case, the number of photos, the photographer, producer, recording time, filing and sealing time, etc. It shall be marked on the record disc and sealed and signed by technicians and archivists.

Finally, the digital photos of electronic evidence materials should also form an evidence chain with other evidence materials, and the probative force of digital photos should be strengthened through mutual verification of evidence.

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