The affidavit regarding messages sent from the girl to Tom’s phone for the period November 24, 2017 through October 1, 2017 is one of the portions of the OAG information packet that I am having difficulty understanding the point or context. For instance:
- “The messages were blue from November 24, 2016 through December 25, 2016, indicating the messages were iMessages. On January 4, 2017 the messages turned green indicating the messages were now being sent as SMS messages.”
(the only significance that I see regarding “blue to green” is that the girl sending the messages purchased a non-Apple phone or maybe received a non-Apple phone as a Christmas gift. Simply replaced her phone.)
- “These messages from <name> do not appear in the data download from BROWN’S phone or in the records from Verizon Wireless.”
(It seems logical to me that the records would not appear in the data download from Tom’s phone or in the Verizon records because the phone was turned off/unpowered for the entire period in question. If the phone is off, the messages cannot reach it.)
- “It is the affiant’s belief that either the sim card was removed from BROWN’S phone and inserted into another phone to read text messages, or the messages were being accessed through the iCloud account associated with BROWN’S phone.”
(The SIM cards in Apple devices are unique from other brands in that the SIM cards contain only account data that is related to identity such as name, billing address, phone number, etc. Apple SIM cards
do not store texts, photos, email, etc. All of that type of data is stored within the phone’s main memory area, not on the SIM.
In order to access an iCloud account from another device or a Windows computer, an individual must know the iCloud account User ID and Password. Apple sends a 6 digit code to the phone as a 2nd level security verification. Therefor they probably retain logs that document access.)
However, information elsewhere within the AG/DA information packet stated that 1.) Verizon verified that the SIM card from Tom’s phone had
never been placed in another phone, and 2.) Tucker had much data on the iCloud account that he shared with Tom but Tom reportedly had very little information stored on the iCloud server.
I might note here that use of the iCloud storage is optional and configurable. Personally, I do not store any information on iCloud. Instead, I periodically backup/restore my iPhone to/from a Windows computer through the iTunes application.
Were the "settings" within Tom's phone configured to automatically back up data to iCloud? That would be interesting to know.
All of this post is only my observations and/or opinion while I am trying to understand what is the significance, if any, of much of this information. Maybe I am missing some point but it just appears to me that some of the information is irrelevant or contradicts other statements with the document. IMO.
