Letter · Incoming evidence — deepfakes & synthetic documents
Letter asking that devices and native files be preserved
Letter asking a party or a non-party to keep devices, accounts and native files so that an authenticity question can still be investigated, without claiming that the letter is a court order.
- Kind
- Letter. A letter or email you adapt and send.
- Where it applies
- Commonwealth, New South Wales, Victoria, Australian Capital Territory, Northern Territory, Tasmania
- AI use
- Red You write the text. The tool writes nothing into the document. Where permitted, it may check, clarify or collect data, and anything it checks or collects is verified.
- Law stated as at
- 22 October 2026
- Status
- Maintained. Checked on 22 October 2026 against the 4 authorities it cites, for 6 jurisdictions.
- Version
- 1
- Source
- Written for this library
When to use it
Send when a message, image, audio or video matters and the original may sit on a phone, a laptop or an account that could be deleted or overwritten. Do not send it as a substitute for an application for an order, a subpoena, or a s 167 request once proceedings allow one.
Used for these tasks
- Build a chain-of-custody log from the capture papers
- Draft an authenticity challenge or expert-instruction letter
Each task page says how far AI may help with the task and what the lawyer must review.
How AI may be used
The lawyer writes and sends the letter; a tool may only list device types and account names the lawyer has already taken from the instructions.
AI may
- List device types and account names from facts the lawyer has already marked as able to be stated in open correspondence.
- Insert the proceeding number and the party names from the file.
AI must not
- Must not draft the letter that will be sent.
- Must not add an allegation that the recipient has forged evidence or committed an offence.
- Must not assert that this letter has the force of a court order or of s 167 before a request under that section is made in the proceeding.
The lawyer checks
- Every device and account named is one the lawyer is instructed exists, and naming it does not breach a suppression or confidentiality order.
- The letter does not set out the contents of privileged advice or the detail of intimate images.
- The client has approved the letter, and a copy is kept with the date and method of sending.
Method: how the Green, Yellow and Red levels are decided. This is guidance for planning, not legal advice.
Read the full text
The full text is available after you log in. It is free. When you log in you can:
- read the whole precedent, with its drafting notes beside it;
- copy it, or download it as a Word file or Markdown;
- add it to your firm’s knowledge base, so colleagues can find it;
- let the AI tools you connect read it from that knowledge base.
The summary, the law it rests on and the AI-use guidance above stay public. Privacy.
More in Incoming evidence — deepfakes & synthetic documents
- Deepfake and synthetic evidence authenticity checklist (images, audio, video and documents)
- Federal Court checklist: generative AI and evidentiary material
- Metadata comparison schedule for a digital file
- Letter requesting native files, metadata and device examination (Evidence Act s 167)
- NSW Supreme Court limits on generative AI in evidentiary material
- Production-set log for candidate synthetic or altered media
- Letter instructing a digital forensics expert on suspected synthetic or altered media
- Protocol for exchange of native electronic files where authenticity is in issue
- NSW gate before compelled or suppressed material enters a generative AI program
- Client warning letter on AI-fabricated or altered evidence
- NSW verification of citations and evidence references in written submissions
- Digital evidence intake and chain-of-custody record
- Response sheet: suspected non-consensual intimate deepfake
- Outline of submissions objecting to evidence suspected to be AI-generated or altered
All precedents for Incoming evidence — deepfakes & synthetic documents · Tasks and AI use in this area