Mobile devices continue to feature heavily in criminal investigations and often bear multiple forms of potentially relevant evidence. In the context of identifying the owner of a device, both latent fingerprints and resident digital data may be crucial to investigations, yet each individual process may have a detrimental impact on the other. Fingerprint development techniques are known to impact device hardware, whilst digital extraction processes can destroy latent prints. This article examines the impact of mobile device extraction procedures on resident screen fingerprints. The impact of bare fingered, cotton gloved, latex gloved and stylus screen press and swipes on latent print destruction are examined. Results indicate that all forms of interaction cause print damage, but to a variable extent. Provisional device handling recommendations are offered.

移动设备继续在刑事调查中占据重要地位，并经常携带多种形式的潜在相关证据。在识别设备所有者的情况下，潜在指纹和常驻数字数据可能对调查至关重要，但是每个单独的过程可能对另一个过程产生不利影响。众所周知，指纹开发技术会影响设备硬件，而数字提取过程可能会破坏潜在的指纹。本文研究了移动设备提取过程对驻留屏幕指纹的影响。检查了裸指，棉手套，乳胶手套和触笔丝网印刷机以及擦拭对潜在的打印破坏的影响。结果表明，所有形式的相互作用都会造成印刷损坏，但程度不同。