Short answer: Triage Forensics extracts data from mobile phones and reconstructs a location timeline showing where a device was over time, using GPS, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, cell tower and app records. It’s used in criminal defence, civil disputes and workplace investigations.

Our complete guide to mobile phone forensics lists the data sources involved. This page shows how they’re combined into a timeline, and why no single source should be trusted on its own.

How a timeline is built

Each data source records location differently and with different precision:

• GPS (from maps, photos and fitness apps) can be accurate to a few metres outdoors, but is often missing or wrong indoors.
• Wi-Fi connections show the phone was within range of a particular network, which may cover a building or a city block.
• Bluetooth shows the phone paired with or detected a nearby device, such as a car or a smartwatch.
• Cell tower records show which tower served the phone. They place it within that tower’s coverage area, which can range from a few hundred metres in a city to many kilometres in the country.
• App records such as ride-share trips and check-ins add context, with their own accuracy limits.

The analyst lines these up on a single timeline, notes where sources agree, and flags where they conflict or where there are gaps.

A simple example

Suppose the question is whether a phone was at a particular address at 9 pm. A photo taken at 8:52 pm carries GPS coordinates two streets away. At 8:58 pm the phone joins a Wi-Fi network registered to a café near that address. Between 9:00 and 9:20 pm, the network records place it on a tower covering the whole suburb.

Taken together, these support the phone being in the immediate area around 9 pm. None of them alone proves it was at the address, and a careful report says exactly that.

What the timeline can’t tell you

• Who was holding the phone.
• Precise position from cell data alone.
• Anything about the periods where there are no records.

What you receive

A written report with a chronological table and, where helpful, maps and charts, and every point linked to its source and its accuracy.

Frequently asked questions

Can you reconstruct where a phone was over time?

Yes. We use GPS, Wi-Fi connections, Bluetooth interactions, cell tower records and app data to build a chronological location timeline.

Is location evidence infallible?

No. GPS accuracy varies indoors, cell tower records show an approximate area rather than an exact position, and the device being somewhere doesn’t always mean the user was there. We explain these limits clearly.

Getting started

Contact Triage Forensics with the device, the time windows that matter, and what you need to establish. We’ll tell you whether a useful timeline is likely before work begins.