What To Do If Police Try To Search Your Phone Without a Warrant

blottsie writes: The Supreme Court ruled this week that it is illegal for police to search your phone without a warrant. But just because that's the new rule doesn't mean all 7.5 million law enforcement officers in the U.S. will abide by it. This guide, put together with the help of the EFF and ACLU, explains what to do if a police officer tries to search your phone without a warrant. Of course, that doesn't mean they don't have other ways of getting your data.

The actual Guides

[jittles]

Since the summary links you to a stupid news article and not the guides themselves, here is the ACLU Guide [aclu.org] and EFF Guide [eff.org]s here.

Re:Well the SCOTUS did leave a hole

[DaHat]

Welcome to the fun world of anticipatory obstruction of justice.

Yes... you can be charged & convicted of obstruction by way of destroying evidence that is not yet being sought but that you think might be.

Re:Let them

[ai4px]

Don't resist arrest? Don't plan on it, but that won't stop the cop from "narrating" what he wants others to believe what is happening. Case in point, cop pulls over a guy and walks up to the car knowing he's being recorded by his dashcam and has on a wireless mic. You hear the cop say "stop reaching for my gun" and see him lean in the car window. It looks like the guy has tried to take the cop's gun. The truth is that there is a 2nd cop car with a dash cam recording from an angle that allows you to see the driver's hands clearly on the steering wheel, even as the cop leans in his car to unbuckle his seat belt. The cop drags him out the car and throws him on the ground. The guy tries to break his fall and the cop starts shouting "stop resisting". This really happened... google Marcus Jeter New Jersey. The cops and the DA conspired to conceal the 2nd dashcam that showed the driver's hands /not/ reaching for the cops gun.

Re:Be polite

[mindcandy]

Just say "I do not consent to this search
This .. and remember kids (and cops) .. that whole "digital breadcrumb" thing cuts both ways.

Even using an "imager" on a device (usually) creates a ./messages log entry which is handily timestamped with ntp sync'd clock accuracy.

Re:The actual Guides

[mpoulton]

Since the summary links you to a stupid news article and not the guides themselves, here is the ACLU Guide [aclu.org] and EFF Guide [eff.org]s here.

The EFF guide you linked has not been updated yet to reflect the Riley decision. Some of those answers need to be changed because they are incorrect now. The ACLU "Know Your Rights" manual does not appear to have been updated either, but it simply doesn't address the issue of cell phone searches incident to arrest at all.

What I say

[Charliemopps]

This has worked very well for me in the past:

"My lawyer has advised me that rights are like muscles. If they are not exercised, they become weak. Therefor I do not and cannot consent to this search."

It conveys, very directly:
your refusal of the search request
you are a constitution, and rights advocate... meaning you will a big headache for the cop if he continues
you have a lawyer that's also into that sort of thing and would love to sue the department

You should refuse EVERY search. EVERY time. With absolutely no exceptions.
The majority of arrests start with a consensual search by police of someone that legitimately thought they had nothing to hide. Everything is illegal. If a cop searches your home and he wants you to go to jail, you're going to jail. It's as simple as that.

People get into these situations where someone backs into their car in a parking lot and the cop that arrives casually asks "Mind if I check your car for open alcohol?" and they think "LOL that's funny! Of course I don't have that." But the cop isn't just looking for alcohol is he? He starts lifting your floor mats... does he think there's a beer bottle under there? In once instance a man bought a car from the local police impound. A few days later he got pulled over, consented to a search and low and behold the car had a secret compartment for smuggling drugs. They arrested him and he spent a month in jail before they finally realized it had the drugs when it went into impound. ALWAYS refuse search requests. ALWAYS.

Re:Let them

[93 Escort Wagon]

Wouldn't matter. The police search to produce evidence that is admissible in court. If they were to search a cell phone illegally, they could not use any of the evidence obtained from it in court, thus making the search useless in the first place.

Yes, it's not as if there's any recent evidence that US governmental entities sometimes obtain information by one method! then pretend they got it a different way [rt.com].

Re:What I say

[Pro923]

Also i should point out that I completely agree with you. I was arrested when I let the police search my car and they found a sandwich bag in which I kept a 'stash' of my medication in. I have grade 4 arthritis in my ankle and it can really get bad at times. I always tried (past tense) to keep a few in my car because I never wanted to get caught in the situation where I needed them and didn't have them. These were vicoden-ibuprofen, and I had a regular prescription for them. I ended up getting charged with posession and OUI. The posession was dropped when I came back and showed the prescription, the OUI was continued without a finding - but what they don't tell you is that you still have to go through the RMV's version of an OUI, which is not pleasant at all - especially seeing as I got one that I deserved some 22 years ago when I was about 21. So this one counted as my second, and required an "interlock device" be installed in my car for 2 years. I just can not describe to you how awful this device is. Food sets it off, and every time it goes off, you have to pay 50 bucks.

Re:The answer nobody likes...

[Splab]

Never ever EVER speak to American cops:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?... [youtube.com]

Re:Be polite

[bobbied]

Look at it from the police officer's perspective. There are a number of nutcases out there who would gladly harm anybody in uniform. A sane police officer realizes that it is not always obvious who these people are, so the best course of action is to be ready to react and not get into dangerous situations if you don't need to.

This is why I do EVERYTHING I can to be nonthreatening when dealing with the police. I turn on lights at night, keep my hands in plain view, and if I have to go digging in my pockets or the glove compartment I first tell the officer what I'm going to do, turn to face away from him before I do it and make sure to show them my palms before I turn back. I want them to be as comfortable and feel as safe as I can because there job is risky enough without me causing them undue stress.

Re:The answer nobody likes...

[Thruen]

My brother in law is a local cop where I live, and he says the same thing. Do not trust cops. They are just people, some of them are nice, but some of them are not and will enjoy slapping cuffs on you for next to nothing. His advice was along the lines of be respectful, don't talk back, don't ever physically resist them, and don't tell them anything unless you called them. They will get annoyed, but if you're not being outright disrespectful they will generally let it go. Most of the time, they'd rather be getting real criminals off the streets, anyway.