What is the difference between a static location and live-location sharing?¶

A messaging service may allow a user to send either a fixed location or a live location.

Evidential caution: that both features show continuous, real-time physical movement.

What this means¶

A static location is a single point shared at one moment. It may be detected by the device or manually selected from a map.

A live location is designed to update over a period as the device reports new positions.

The live feature may therefore produce a sequence of locations rather than one fixed point.

In reports, distinguish a fixed shared point from a sequence of device-reported updates.

Where the issue is disputed, compare account, device, provider and surrounding contextual records before drawing a conclusion.

What to check or do next¶

• Preserve the start time, end time, update interval, route, coordinates, device and account involved.
• Record whether the sharing period ended naturally, was stopped manually or lost connectivity.
• Compare the shared route with device-location data, network records, transport evidence, CCTV and witness accounts.
• Do not infer continuous personal presence from the feature alone.
• Preserve the original source and collection method so another investigator can test the same interpretation.

Evidential limits¶

But live-location updates can be delayed, interrupted or inaccurate because of connectivity, device settings, battery restrictions or location-service limitations.

The person carrying the device may not be the account holder. The device may also be left somewhere, transported by another person or remotely controlled.