Collecting Message App Data

Collecting data from messaging apps can be difficult, but specialized applications exist to create snapshots of text messaging services which will index the text of the messages and allow it to be searched. Mobile electronic discovery leader, Cellebrite, offers Chat Capture, a tool that is part of its Responder software. It can be set to collect images and text of messages from a designated time range.

The tool supports WhatsApp and Signal. Keep in mind that if an encrypted messaging app stores messages locally, it may be possible to collect the data.