Should Cops Be Allowed to Scan Your Phone During a Traffic Stop?

Should Cops Be Allowed to Scan Your Phone During a Traffic Stop?

www.popularmec hanics.com

According to an American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) letter to the director of the Michigan State Police on April 13, that department has several forensic cellphone analyzers deployed in the field....

The device used by the Michigan State Police is a portable forensic system called the Cellebrite UFED that can suck data from a variety of devices, including multiple Android phones and Apple iOS devices such as the iPhone and iPad....

the UFED can grab email, Web bookmarks, Web history, SIM data, cookies, notes, MMS, instant messages, Bluetooth devices, locations, journeys, GPS fixes, call logs, text messages, contacts and more.

(visit the link for the full news article)


Related News Links:
www.foxnews.com

This article is a bit confusing. It says "the UFED mobile units might have been used in routine traffic stops". Might have? Apparently when they asked for proof that the devices were not used in traffic stops, the police "requested more than half a million dollars to pay for retrieval of the documents and records".

www.popularmec hanics.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

This UFED device basically dumps the entire filesystem of the phone and also gives instant access to data, including data that you cannot normally see....

For instance, on an iPhone, when you delete a text message, it's not really deleted. It is still in the SMS database file on the phone, but simply marked as deleted. By using this device they can read your deleted text messages.

Also consider that it recently came to light that the iPhone "secretly" and automatically creates a log of everywhere it has been, with timestamps! Reference: www.foxnews.com...

So let's say the cops, TPTB, feds, whoever want to spy on you and you happen to use an iPhone or android phone. They pull you over for a routine traffic stop (speeding, failed to signal, etc), and have you empty your pockets. While once officer distracts you the other plugs your phone into their forensics device and copies all the data from it, or perhaps right there in your face they view your call history, current and deleted text messages, and GPS log.

Now they know that you got a text 3 hours ago saying "The plan is a go", and from the GPS log and timestamps they can see that you replied with "drop made". They now have the coordinates and thus the address of where you were, so you have completely incriminated yourself, without saying a word.

Granted, if you are the paranoid type and/or doing anything illegal than you probably should not be carrying a cellphone at all, but that is besides the point. Is it fair for the cops to data mine your phone if you are not charged with a crime? Why can they search your phone without consent but not your trunk, wallet, purse, etc?

reply to post by Blazer


In short reply to the title of your thread - hell no.

It's a violation of the 4th and 5th amendments on several levels and yet another example of over-reaching authoritative douchebaggery. I can't even fathom what the idiot who came up with this was thinking, or how they justify it rationally on any level.

Arghghghgh...that does it, I'm just going to start taking the battery out of my phone except for when I actually need to use it. They can already fix your position, eavesdrop on you, and now can lift all your phone data...ridiculous.

No, a phone is deemed as personal property. Personal items within the confines of your home are deemed personal property. Also, property on your persons per the law are deemed private ownership.

Possession is a property interest under which an individual is able to exercise power over something to the exclusion of all others. It is a basic property right that entitles the possessor to (1) the right to continue peaceful possession against everyone except someone having a superior right; (2) the right to recover a chattel that has been wrongfully taken; and (3) the right to recover damages against wrongdoers.

legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com...

Actual possession exists when an individual knowingly has direct physical control over an object at a given time. For example, an individual wearing a particular piece of valuable jewelry has actual possession of it. Constructive possession is the power and intent of an individual to control a particular item, even though it is not physically in that person's control. For example, an individual who has the key to a bank safe deposit box, which contains a valuable piece of jewelry that she owns, is said to be in constructive possession of the jewelry.

reply to post by HabaneroPepper


Its not that simple...

Existing thread
www.abovetopsecret.com...

reply to post by Xcathdra


100% unconstitutional. Of course, no one will bat an eye .

example for ya: Patriot Act...case closed

reply to post by Xcathdra


Ah darn, I searched before I posted and didn't come across that one. Thanks.

reply to post by Blazer


The short answer is no. The long answer is different. In Australia it is illegal to drive using your mobile phone. The Police should only be able to see if your phone was being used whilst you are driving. Not the number you were talking to just if it is was in use at the time of driving to enforce the law. If you have been arrested and at the station yes a full analysis should me made. But at a roadside stop no personal information should be accessible to Police. That is an invasion of privacy.

Originally posted by Blazer
reply to post by Xcathdra

 

Ah darn, I searched before I posted and didn't come across that one. Thanks.

Its cool.. I did the same thing as well lol.

this is the example of the high tech control grid or my new friendly term that I made up the high tech illusion entrapment system.

reply to post by Blazer


If my phone was driving, sure.

If not, then no. What does my phone have to do with a traffic stop? (I dont actually carry a cell phone, but assuming I did)

If for some reason a person(s) was to be placed under surveillance and not the surveillance mentioned here by regular methods, then the last thing one should be concerned about or trying to find out is if the cell was being monitored, if so, then you're already a decade behind from reality.

As long as they ask first, I would have no problem telling them "No". But they aren't asking first I'm assuming, in fact, they are probably doing it remotely, without even needing to connect to your phone! It's supposed to be a forensic device right? So they are actually using it to gather "evidence" against you BEFORE you even know your being charged or even arrested. IF they're doing it, then you know they've already made the leap to keep doing it covertly until the get caught and THEN they'll pass a law to make it legal. Thats how THEY work. Oh, and they're probably hooking the damn thing into ECHELON or soemthing like that as well. Why not right? It's all about the "Security" the ahhh "Homeland Security" isn't it?

reply to post by Blazer


Should Cops Be Allowed to Scan Your Phone During a Traffic Stop?

NO

Let me say that again here -

NO

...and I'm a Cop supporter.

If it's genuinely pertinent to an investigation for which they have cause and warrant, then and only then, yes.

Hell to the no. I got pulled over by a cop last week who appeared drunk to me. He was claiming that my son wasn't buckled in. Which he clearly was. Then he tried to tell me that kids needed to be in booster seats until they were 10. REALLY?
The only time I'd let someone scan my phone or pull records off of it is if I was in some sort of legal fiasco and it was court ordered.

reply to post by ampar84


Depending on what state your in, the Officer is correct... The state im requires their use of the child is under a certain age, or a certain weight.

If you're not doing anything wrong, why should they be able to scan your phone? I find it wrong even if it is to check if you were texting while driving. That just seems too invasive.

They better have a warrant with probable cause if they want to look at the contents of my phone.
This is such a blatant violation of the peoples 4th amendment rights and the public should not stand for it.
Americans need to wake up before all of our rights are gone.

The Fourth Amendment (Amendment IV) to the United States Constitution is the part of the Bill of Rights which guards against unreasonable searches and seizures, along with requiring any warrant to be judicially sanctioned and supported by probable cause. It was adopted as a response to the abuse of the writ of assistance, which is a type of general search warrant, in the American Revolution. Search and arrest should be limited in scope according to specific information supplied to the issuing court, usually by a law enforcement officer, who has sworn by it.

en.wikipedia.org...

Stand up for your rights people.

In my opinion, No in response to the op.

I haven't treated my laptop (w/internet) or my smartphone as being private for quite awhile now. It's one thing to gather marketing information based on google searches or Like clicks on Facebook, but there appears to be more going on with collected information. And, that includes the very fact that an operating system was programmed to specifically track and collect what the police are extracting.

From now on, my smartphone will have a photo album of police officers' naked wives. I will also continue my misleading, disruptive, slightly radical, yet not incriminating posts on Facebook. The best way to deal with an entity that is trying to find out information about you is to create illusion and send them on a wild goose chase.

I truly fear that the homosexual cops are trying to get Brett Favre's text messages...and have him experience the "long arm of the law!" pmpl

reply to post by Xcathdra


The law here is 6 years old. Not 10 like he was saying.