Is F3 membership based on individuals or organisations?
If eligible, membership is based on organisation. Our rule being, one membership per organisation per location or department thereof; for example an organisation located in both London and Birmingham would require two memberships. Similarly if an organisation located in London but with distinctly separate eligible departments i.e. PC etc based examinations and Audio Visual (CCTV etc) would require two memberships. This will be fully explained when a request for an application is made for membership.
Each membership will include all eligible staff within the organisation/department; be this one or twenty-one. The application form requires that one person is annotated as the F3 SPOC (this must be an eligible member and not someone from the organisation’s training, accounts or marketing etc. departments). All eligible personnel (who wish to be included) are to be listed, with their contact details and job roles. In the case of University lecturers, the subject area being taught is required. Anyone listed who is not eligible will be highlighted to the applicant on receipt of the application. A separate membership payment will be required for each named membership.
What is an F3 SPOC?
The F3 SPOC is a named individual who is the first point of contact for the secretary to contact to request membership list updates, to receive invoices (where an accounts department does not have an email address) and also to cascade the website login details (when renewed).
How do I qualify for F3 membership?
F3 membership is open to all digital forensics practitioners, whether they work within Law Enforcement or the private sector; vendors who provide forensic specific equipment to digital forensics practitioners (examination software, hardware etc.) and university lecturers who are lecturing (technical subjects) in the subject at degree level.
Applications will be considered on an individual basis and where necessary, further information may be requested. Where universities are concerned, proof will be obtained from the institution concerned to ensure that the individual is definitely lecturing in a technical subject. As some degrees are pure computing with a “bolt on” forensics module, it is accepted that the lecturer on these modules may be eligible providing the level of teaching is sufficiently technical.
I think I qualify for membership. How do I join F3?
Send an email to our secretary via the contact form on this website, requesting a membership application pack. Please ensure that you give full details of your organisation, the type of work you are involved in, tools you are using etc. A link to your website will be useful. Please use your work email address and not a personal one as we do not hold or use personal email accounts for our members.
My organisation is based across multiple physical sites. Does this affect my F3 membership? Do we have to pay more than once?
Yes, as explained in FAQ 1 above, membership is based on organisations, on a per location basis. Therefore F3 will require an invoicing address for each membership, but all locations are eligible for membership of F3 assuming that they are all involved in digital forensic work and fulfil our entry criteria.
I am studying digital forensics at university, can I join F3?
No sorry, as we are an organisation for practitioners we do not have a student membership. When you are employed as a practitioner, we will (using the criteria above) consider an application from the organisation (if not already members) you are then working for. Good luck with the studies.
What is the current annual cost for F3 membership?
Membership is currently £90 per organisation per location or department per annum (see FAQ 1). The subscription year runs from April 6th to April 5th.
Payment can be made either by cheque or BACS. Full bank and payment details will be advised when membership has been agreed and an invoice has been raised.
What is the correct postal address to contact F3?
F3 First Forensic Forum
PO Box 2268
PULBOROUGH
RH20 9BG
Can I have my own website user account?
No, single accounts were discarded in 2012 in favour of one global account. The password of which is, when renewed, e-mailed to the SPOCS every few weeks. The SPOC is required to cascade this to the personnel within their membership group.
I have just joined F3 and paid my annual fee. How do I gain access to the website?
Your SPOC should be given the login/password details for the member’s area of the website when membership is confirmed and the relevant subscription has been received. If this is not the case, contact the secretary; your SPOC will have the direct email address by then and this will be rectified. Alternatively, contact the site administrator via the contact form.
Does F3 have a rule book?
No, not as such but we do have guidelines. These will be provided with the membership application pack and also provided to all members within an organisation, once an application has been approved and the annual subscription paid.
Can I have my company mentioned or linked to on the F3 website?
No. The F3 website is a “brochure” for non-members who want to find what F3 is about and for current members to access material such as previous presentations, photographs etc. It’s not an advertising platform. It does not contain membership details.