CBS Atlanta 46Cell phone security: Did you really delete that?

We all have them - cell phones. People use them for almost everything: calls, texting, emails and apps. Experts say all that sensitive information stored on the phone is more accessible than people may realize.

"Text, email, Facebook," said one woman, who did not want to be identified.

"Do you have private information on there?" asked reporter Jennifer Mayerle.

"Oh yeah," said the woman.

Greg Freemyer is a private investigator with the Norcross Group. He's often hired to find out what someone is hiding on their cell.

"The easy things are the call log, the contact list, the text messages and the email, any photographs and if you happen to have any videos on there. All six of those are very easy to get off," said Freemyer.

"If someone deletes a text message, should they feel safe thinking it's actually been deleted?" Mayerle asked.

"No, no, it's not safe to believe that at all. You can tell a life story for some people who are heavy cell phone users," said Freemyer.

The Cellebrite device is similar to what you'd see in a cell phone store.

"What we're going to do is extract phone data," said Freemyer.

Employees use the same technology to transfer your information from the old phone to the new one. In this case, the information is being transferred to a hard drive to be searched and used in a lawsuit.

The same technology was used in the Conrad Murray trial. Prosecutors played an audio recording from the iTalk app. It was of Michael Jackson slurring under the influence of sedatives. 

The state used the recording to show Murray knew how Jackson was reacting to the sedatives. The recording was made six weeks before Jackson's death. 

"It is almost a truth machine," said attorney Tom Bever.

Bever said cell phones are used in all kinds of cases.

"In a divorce case, it may be a photograph or a series of photographs," said Bever.

Bever said unlike a phone conversation, a text conversation can be admitted in court.

"There's essentially a transcript of exactly what we said at this moment in time," said Bever.

Bever admits cell phones can help too. They can clear someone of a crime or provide an alibi when accused of an affair. It can also help catch criminals. The Find My iPhone app led Marietta police to drugs and guns after an iPhone was stolen. The GPS technology in the phone led officers right to the criminals.

"It shows you on the map, it shows you exactly where it's located. We always tell our officers we want them to think outside the box," said Officer David Baldwin.

Experts said it's important to be conscious about what you use your cell phone for, whether you expect your cell to be involved in a lawsuit down the road or not.

"They're called smartphones for a reason. You ought to be smart with them as opposed to being dumb with them," said Bever.

Anyone willing to spend $9,000 can buy one of the Cellebrite devices. Freemyer said there are privacy issues. He doesn't extract information from anyone's cell phone without their permission. He said the only way to make sure the information is totally gone is to destroy the phone.

Copyright 2012 WGCL-TV (Meredith Corporation).  All rights reserved.