Phone encryption: Police 'mug' suspect to get data
13 replies, posted
[url]http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-38183819[/url]
What the fuck is this shit? This sounds like something you'd see on Looney Tunes.
From what I understand, they were pretty much waiting for him to use his phone before arresting him, that way he wouldn't have a chance to lock it or refuse to unlock it, allowing them to get the evidence they needed.
[QUOTE=thejjokerr;51462580]It's possible and tbh I can't wait for it.[/QUOTE]
Why, do you often get arrested with critical evidence on your phone :v:
well given your hand should be on the phone when you're on it, couldnt you just lock the phone as soon as something goes awry?
[editline]2nd December 2016[/editline]
although having hte power to seize property in the hands of someone is pretty awful imo and hsouldn't be allowed one way or the other
[QUOTE=thejjokerr;51463657]Then they'll eventually use it on lighter criminals as well because they can.[/QUOTE]
Why would they care that much about some petty little guy? This one was running a black market business:
[QUOTE]The phone revealed a motherlode of information on Yew's efficient business-like practices. He had orders for fake cards and there was evidence linking him to four men who were subsequently convicted and a further 100 potential suspects.
Detectives also uncovered Yew's "factory" with thousands of blank credit cards ready to be programmed.[/QUOTE]
[QUOTE=thejjokerr;51463657]Imagine you sitting anywhere with your favorite torrent client open in the background and being charged and your laptop being used as evidence to pay a hefty fine. [/QUOTE]
That's great and all, but that won't happen because the worst things they'll find on my phone or laptop are bad memes and poorly formatted notes, respectively. It's an invasion of privacy unless they have a warrant, but, at least in the U.S., in that case it doesn't really matter because unless they have either your permission to search it or a warrant, they can't use your laptop as evidence. There's also another layer where if they have a search warrant because you're suspected of drug trafficking, they can't use your latest 13 pirated albums to convict you because that's not what they convinced the judge to give them a warrant for. I dunno the intricacies of UK law, but here, I have nothing to fear other than the mild embarrassment one might expect from an officer seeing a group chat among a close-knit group of friends.
That said, my first post was a joke in the first place, hence the extremely specific nature of the question and ":v:" at the end.
[QUOTE=thejjokerr;51463657]No it was more like: these cops are trying to circumvent privacy laws on hard criminals first so you get a sense of yeah it's OK. Then they'll eventually use it on lighter criminals as well because they can.
Privacy laws are there for a reason. I wouldn't mind anyone searching my phone. But I would very much prefer to give them my permission first as there is still private stuff on my phone.
[editline]2nd December 2016[/editline]
Imagine you sitting anywhere with your favorite torrent client open in the background and being charged and your laptop being used as evidence to pay a hefty fine.
Maybe I'm just paranoid but I feel this could be abused[/QUOTE]
Is it circumventing privacy laws, though? It sounds like a grey area or a loop hole with a law that hasn't yet caught up with the times. If you let an officer in your house, the officer can't go through your stuff, but he can look around and maybe use what he sees to make an arrest/as evidence after an arrest. (Unless he has a warrant) If an officer pulls you over and asks you if he can search your car and you say Yes, and he finds a locked case in the trunk, he can't make you unlock the case so he can search it, too, But if it's unlocked, he can open it and look. It seems like an extension of this, except they wait until the case, or in these cases the phones, is unlocked before making the arrest.
As long as the arrest is legal, it's all on the up and up, and for an arrest to be legal a crime has to actually be committed, or warrant is being served
Though this is the US. I don't know how different things are in other countries
the US hasn't the best track record for this kind of thing so they'd probably be scrutinized a whole hell of a lot more.
IIRC this kind of thing would be a legal gray area but be ok if they had a warrant for a specific crime
[QUOTE=thejjokerr;51463657]No it was more like: these cops are trying to circumvent privacy laws on hard criminals first so you get a sense of yeah it's OK. Then they'll eventually use it on lighter criminals as well because they can.
Privacy laws are there for a reason. I wouldn't mind anyone searching my phone. But I would very much prefer to give them my permission first as there is still private stuff on my phone.
[editline]2nd December 2016[/editline]
Imagine you sitting anywhere with your favorite torrent client open in the background and being charged and your laptop being used as evidence to pay a hefty fine.
Maybe I'm just paranoid but I feel this could be abused[/QUOTE]
Seems perfectly legal given that the trial has happened now and nothing to do with misconduct was brought up. This was an entire specialist operation designed to stop this one ring, it wasn't just a gang of officers on the street, so I don't think this'll be a common occurrence for anyone unless you're running a credit card fraud ring.
[QUOTE=TheTalon;51466694][...]
Though this is the US. I don't know how different things are in other countries[/QUOTE]
I may be wrong, but to me it seems to only have been legal because they got an arrest warrant.
In Germany police officers can't search your devices without a warrant at all unless you consent, but I'm not sure about the situation in the UK.
[editline]4th December 2016[/editline]
In any case, this doesn't seem like loophole abuse. One of the primary functions of arresting someone is securing evidence and preventing its destruction after all.
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