Cloud vs Physical Evidence Media Storage
Why choose Physical Media over Cloud-based storage:
Security & Vulnerability Comparison
Download a PDF Version of the above Here
Examples of Real-World Risks in Cloud-Based Evidence Storage
| Type of Risk | Example |
| Device Vulnerability | Axon Body 1: Sold on eBay with unencrypted footage accessible from internal SD card (2020) |
| Centralized Breach | Any compromise of Axon's cloud infrastructure would affect thousands of agencies at once |
| Subscription Termination | Agencies may lose access or incur high export fees if they leave the cloud vendor. |
| Data Sovereignty | Cloud evidence may be stored in jurisdictions that conflict with federal/state data privacy laws. |
| Legal Discovery Challenge | Opposing counsel may challenge cloud audit trails, demanding raw copies or logs stored only by the provider |
Advantages of Physical Evidence-Grade Storage in Sensitive Cases
- Controlled Distribution: Ideal for body cam footage, dashcam recordings, or surveillance handoffs between jurisdictions
- Evidence Submission: Courts often prefer physical, tamper-evident media (e.g., optical disc or sealed USB)
- Custom Packaging: You can serialize, barcode, and seal media with case info for authenticity
- Hardware Independence: No dependency on vendor platform to view, export, or convert evidence
- Immutable Format: WORM (Write Once Read Many) optical discs or read-only USBs ensure an unalterable evidence trail
What Newer Cloud Vendors Do to Mitigate Risks
Companies like Axon implement:
- SOC 2 & FedRAMP certification
- Multifactor authentication (MFA)
- Redundant datacenters (availability zones)
- Full file integrity checksums and logs
- 24/7 threat detection
While strong, these measures do not eliminate:
- Insider access risks
- Legal challenges over access/control
- Reliance on proprietary interfaces or long-term contracts
Recommendation for Sensitive or High-Risk Evidence
| Case Type | Recommended Medium |
| Homicides / Felony cases | Optical (BD-R, DVD-R), Forensic USB |
| Sexual assault or confidential informants | Encrypted USB or air-gapped SSD or WORM media |
| Chain-of-custody sensitive transfers | Serialized WORM discs |
| Long-term cold case archiving | Evidence Grade CD-R, DVD-R, or BD-R |
| Court-ready submission | Evidence Grade CD-R, DVD-R, or BD-R with clearly marked information, including agency. |
The moral of this is that, irrespective of the storage solution you choose, you should always have at least one other location for the data to be stored elsewhere. Relying on only one storage option is, to say the least, risky.