Hi Guys,
I hope you are having a nice Sunday and that you and your family are healthy and happy and getting through the second wave of restrictions and lockdowns.
I just read a really interesting report called ‘Mass Extraction: The Widespread Power of U.S. Law Enforcement to Search Mobile Phones’ and I wanted to share with you to show you just how easy it is for the Police to access the contents of your phone without the need for a warrant using serious advanced forensic tools. This report mainly focuses on the United States but you can safely assume that if law enforcement in the US can do this it can happen anywhere else in the world.
As one expert puts it, with the amount of sensitive information stored on smartphones today, the tools available to police provide a “window into the soul.
—start of snippet—
“We just want to check your phone to see if you were there.”
You know you weren’t at the 7-Eleven — you hadn’t been there in two weeks. You don’t want the cops to search your phone, but you feel immense pressure. “If you don’t give us your consent, we’ll just go to a judge to get a search warrant — do you really want to make us handle this the hard way?” You relent, knowing that they aren’t going to find anything. You quickly sign a form, and the police officers take your phone.
What happens next, in a backroom of the police department, is secretive. Within a few hours, the police have traced almost everywhere you’ve been, looked at all of your text messages, videos, and photos, searched through your Google search history, and have built a highly detailed profile of who you are. This report seeks to illuminate what happens in those police backrooms.”
—End of snippet—
You can read the report here and please do share with anyone you think might be interested.
Thanks and have a great Sunday.
Max Roberts
Incognito Privacy Care Team