Is it possible for police to access a locked iPhone ? How long can police keep my phone for investigation? These are some of the most rampant questions online as people want to know their legal rights over certain issues.
Luckily, we have made our research and found answers to all the questions. All you need to do is seat-back and relax while we disclose the outcome of our findings in this post.
Contents
Can Police Get Into A Locked Iphone
If this question was asked some years back the answer would have been no because no one or software company has a program to break iPhone encryption.
However, things have changed tremendously in the tech industry. Lots of AI programs have emerged to enhance state security in many developed countries, including America.
At the time of this publication, police can access a locked iPhone using well-developed investigative or security software that can break Apple’s encryption.
A software company like Cellebrite is known for its ability to create forensic software that can eliminate Apple encryption. Hence, you can’t completely overrule the chances that police officers have such software for the purpose of breaking into locked phone during investigation.
Another way the police can get into a locked iPhone involves getting the latest iCloud backup from Apple.
Though the backups are encrypted, the police can break into them with the right IOS software. However, the cops or police can’t explore this method if there are no backups.
Can The Police Search My Phone Without A Warrant?
Police aren’t legally allowed to search your phone without a warrant in Florida and many other states in the country.
Police officers must produce a search warrant from a court judge before searching or taking your phone unreasonably.
However, there are a few cases in which the police can take your phone. These include the following:
- The police can take your phone from you during an arrest but can’t search it without your consent.
- You permit them to go on with their search.
- The police can search your phone without a warrant if there is physical evidence (like an image) that proves you are a suspect.
- The police also have the legal right to take your phone and search it without a warrant they pursue you to get the phone.
Though every country has its rules and regulation guiding police officers and their operations, we believe the above situations apply to almost all countries of the world.
How Long Can Police Keep Your Phone For Investigation?
The police will keep your phone throughout the investigation period. It might be days, weeks or months your phone will be in their custody until they are through finding and filing the reports.
What if the phone is taking too long in their custody? You are allowed to hire a competent lawyer in such a situation the lawyer will present your case in the law court.
Though you might not receive the phone immediately after the judgment, you can be sure they will return the phone few days after the petition.
Meanwhile, you must be totally innocent of any charges level against you before taking such measures as it could backfire if found guilty.
How Long Does It Take For Police To Examine A Phone?
It depends on some factors, including the number of files, videos or documents available on your phone. The number of files on your phone will determine how long the police will take to examine your phone.
Another factor that decides how long it takes the police to examine a phone is the number of phones they want to examine before yours.
Mobile phone investigation is fast becoming the go-to option for police officers during investigations because phones contain information that would fast-track the finding stage.
This explains why the cops have a lot of phones to be examined by a professional investigator using forensic software. So, you should expect your phone to stay a bit longer than usual if there are many phones to be examined before yours.
The number of investigators and their level of expertise will equally affect the length of time the police will take checking a phone.
More investigators will translate to a shorter checking period, while their level of expertise will influence the process positively.
In a nutshell, the police might take a day, weeks or months depending on any of the factors above.
How Long Does Phone Forensics Take?
It is believed that phone forensics shouldn’t take more than a day or two as long as the investigators are readily available and the software is also in top working condition.
Having said that, let’s briefly discuss what a phone forensic is all about and how it’s carried out.
What is Phone Forensics?
Mobile device forensics is a special sect or part of digital forensics which deals with the recovery of data from a mobile device under forensically sound conditions.
In other words, phone forensics is the part of digital forensics that ensures the extraction or recovery of deleted files and data from the phone for investigation purposes.
With mobile forensics, digital investigators can recover deleted files like audio recordings, pictures, text messages or emails, contact lists and video recordings.
How Do Police Extract Data From Phones?
Police can extract data from phones via the mobile device forensic method. As stated earlier, mobile forensics allow investigators to extract data from someone else’s or suspect phone even if the files were deleted from the phone.
How is it possible? Mobile forensics is done by experts who will collect or extract data using some designated forensic software, including Mobile Detect, CrimePad, The MOBILedit Phone Copier, Paraben Device Seizure, or the Forensics Acquisition of Screenshots (FAS) app.
Like a computer system, the files or information you delete on your phone are not completely wiped out. Instead, they are stored in an invisible trash database.
This makes it possible for forensic software to recover those deleted files after scanning the phone system and memory. The digital investigator will carve raw images for various strings of data obtained from the phone.
He will begin another forensic using a different forensic tool to see if the information extracted remains the same as the initial result.
This is done to ensure evidence credibility. He will hand the extracted data over to the police if both results are the same. The police will report their findings and submit them to the appropriate quarters.
What Data Can Be Extracted From A Phone?
Many data can be extracted from phones through effective mobile forensics. These include text message, calls, email messages and attachments, messages on social media platforms, social media post.
Other data that can be extracted are location history, search history on search engines like Google Bing and Yahoo, videos, software permissions, fitness activities, files and financial account details.
Police took my phone how do I get it back?
First, we must let you know that reclaiming your phone from the police is a long process that requires much time. It could take weeks or months depending on how quickly or react or take action.
Talking of action, the things you should do to reclaim your seized phone from the police involve the following:
1. Contact Them: Let them know you are the owner of the phone if they don’t know it belongs to you.
Visit them with your evidence like the receipt and personal information that prove you are the rightful owner.
However, ensure the phone doesn’t contain any incriminating content that could lead you into more trouble.
2. Contact a lawyer: Here is one of the best ways to collect your phone from police officers who are not ready to give it back to you. Get a competent lawyer who will seek the attention of the magistrate court on your behalf to compel the police officers to give it back to you.
Unfortunately, this option requires money and it might take a long time. You need to pay the lawyer for his service, while the magistrate court might take a while before handling your case.
The truth is you might need to let go of the phone if it is not too expensive and it doesn’t contain any important files.
Conclusion
The police can get into a locked iPhone but the good news is that you can prevent them from searching your phone without a warrant.
Meanwhile, we advise you constantly check your phone details and get rid of unnecessary information.
Ensure it is encrypted, always lock your phone with a password that only you can remember, lock the SIM card when necessary, have a list of all important accounts, and frequently delete your browsing history.
It is advisable to pause the “web and app activity” if you use Google regularly. To do this, visit myactivity.google.com and edit the settings to suit your desire.
Ensuring all these security measures will go a long way in ensuring top security for your phone and social media accounts.
Sources
https://northerntelmobility.com/qa/question-can-police-get-into-a-locked-iphone-2021.html
https://www.forensicscolleges.com/blog/resources/forensic-science-and-investigation-apps
https://www.techopedia.com/definition/2956/mobile-phone-forensics