Overlooked sources of EDD

In reviewing a recent T.R. 30(B)(6) deposition transcript in a case involving EDD collection, I realized how easy it is to overlook one of the more popular sources of EDD, portable mp3 players. I have heard mp3 players mentioned as possible sources of EDD for years, but the reference is often made in passing and only when referring to the least likely sources of ESI (cell phone memory chips and PDAs also being referenced in this category). I realized that mp3 players are perhaps a more likely sources of ESI than most people realize. After all, the recent mp3 player trend has been towards higher capacity portable hard disk drive (HDD) based devices and away from smaller flash memory based devices. Although most people buy these devices (Ipod, Creative Zen, and MS Zune, being the most popular) to listen to music, most people also use them as handy portable HDD to hold, or at least transport larger data files that might not fit on a CD or DVD.

I recently read about a case where analyzing an Ipod from a party to litigation discovered several large .PST files. The person in question had stored the .PST files on his mp3 player to transfer the files between his work computer and an external hard drive device at his home. He simply forgot to delete the devices from his Ipod. I recently polled some of my friends of on the subject and found that the majority of them used their mp3 players as portable HDD to store data files. Most of those that used it for this purpose, had used the device to transfer files between work and home or vice-versa.

So remember, if the President of the United States uses an Ipod, then so might Joe accountant or Sally executive.