Law Enforcement Data Privacy: What Are They Able to Access on Your Personal Device?

Have you ever lost your cell phone, or even had it stolen from you? There are still plenty of ways to lose them in your home and in public. Did you know that even though your cell phone belongs to you and you simply lost it or it was stolen, if found by law enforcement, they can get full access into your device with all of your personal information?

There is nothing worse than feeling like your privacy has been violated, especially when it’s from law enforcement and you did absolutely nothing wrong. Many things are wrong with this, as your data should be kept private, along with all of your personal information on your cell phone. Our cell phone is essentially our entire lives, where we keep contacts of the people closest to us, use the internet to search just about anything, and it’s even a place to keep bank or credit card information in a safe way—so why does that give law enforcement free access to look at it when our phone is unattended?

In this article, we’ll talk about how privacy is important, even from law enforcement with topics such as:

• How law enforcement can view data on your cell phone
• Law enforcement vs. your personal cell phone
• What to do if you lose your cell phone
• How to keep your personal information safe on your cell phone

How Law Enforcement Can View Data on Your Cell Phone

Understand how law enforcement gets access to your cell phone even without a warrant!

Your privacy is important, even when it comes to your cellular device. Cell phones are a great way to store everything that is important to you. Whether it’s your bank and credit card information, photos and videos, contacts, passwords, or even important documents, there are many reasons why when we lose our phone, it can feel like we lost everything. Losing your cell phone, having it stolen, or any other instance where law enforcement is involved and can gain access to it, is why it’s important to look into the laws to protect your personal information.

The Fourth Amendment

The Constitution of the United States is one of the most important documents in our country that lists all our rights as American citizens. The Fourth Amendment is specific to everyone’s individual right to keep their personal belongings and information private from law enforcement, which is to protect people from unreasonable search and seizures. 

Under the Fourth Amendment, law enforcement is not allowed to look through your home, car, or other belongings, including your cell phone, without a warrant based on probable cause. While most people will never have to experience this unless they have committed a crime and their phone needs to be searched for potential incriminating evidence, the average, law-abiding citizen can still get their information broken into by just misplacing their cell phone out in public.

Methods For Law Enforcement to Look into Your Cell Phone

There are a few different ways that law enforcement can look through your phone. While citizens are protected under the fourth amendment, there may be reasons for the police, FBI, and other members of law enforcement to view your personal information in your cellular device. 

It’s crucial to get familiar with how and why these methods are ways that law enforcement can view your personal information on your cell phone:

• Warrants - A warrant is a court order that gives law enforcement the right to seize your phone and search its contents for potential incriminating evidence that can be used against you. The warrant is placed by a judge and given to police officers due to probable cause that there is information that they can find to convict you of a crime. If a warrant has not been received and your cell phone is seized and searched, any evidence found is admissible in a courtroom.
• Third-party providers - Law enforcement can also contact third-party providers, such as Google, Apple, Facebook, Android, and other companies for access to cloud information that you may have stored on your device if it is protected from a password. This information can be obtained with a subpoena, a court order, or a warrant.
• Stingray devices - Another way that law enforcement can access your information on your cell phone is with a Stingray device. These devices can help detect and find cell phones, and are also called cell site simulators. They look like cell phone towers that are portable and can trick you into connecting to it, which then helps the police track down criminals and even see their cell phone information.

Law Enforcement vs. Your Personal Cell Phone

Why law enforcement can go through your phone if you misplace, lose, or if it is stolen is important information to understand.

There is nothing more important than your privacy, even when it comes to your cell phone. In most cases, when a cell phone is found by police due to it being lost or stolen, it can be seen as an “abandoned device”, which police officers can search. Typically in this case, the cell phone will be searched in order to try to find its rightful owner, but in a lawsuit by Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, United States v. Hunt the government claims that there is no need for a warrant, mainly due to your identity and personal information being out in the open in its abandoned state. 

While this case seems to be up for debate on the standing of the Fourth Amendment and getting technological advancements involved, most people believe that because it is your personal property, it should not be searched unless a warrant is present. 

How is Digital Privacy Violated in This Case?

Your privacy online and with all of your digital devices can easily be broken into, whether this information is needed from the police or  from hackers who understand the ways of obtaining personal information. Smartphones can hold many different kinds of personal information, such as bank and credit card information, medical records, passwords to important accounts, contacts, and even intimate photos or videos. 

It’s also very easy to lose a cell phone, as much as try to keep it glued to us 24/7. In an instance of it being stolen or  left in a public place, this doesn’t classify the individual as “abandoning” their cell phone, nor does it also incriminate them in any way just because it was misplaced or left behind.

What to Do if You Lose Your Cell Phone

Misplacing your cell phone is a common issue we can face everyday, so knowing the steps you should take next is crucial!

There is nothing worse than knowing that you lost your cell phone, as it can feel like a part of you is missing with how much we rely on it on a daily basis. Whether it was left on public transportation, at a local restaurant or bar, or even stolen right out of your pocket, it’s important to know the next steps to take in case someone is able to get into it and access your information.

Change Passwords to Accounts with Sensitive Information

One of the first things that you should do whenever you lose your cell phone is to change the passwords to any type of account that has sensitive information on it. Whether it’s bank, credit card, insurance, or anything that could potentially have personal, sensitive information, it’s important to change the password and if possible, set it to log you out on every device. This will help to prevent anyone from seeing your information and protect you from fraud.

Freeze Your Credit or Bank Accounts

Another crucial step to keep your money safe is to freeze your credit or bank accounts. By freezing your accounts, you can restrict any unwanted access or use of your cards so you can avoid losing money. Even before doing this, it’s important to take a look at any of your credit card or bank accounts to see if there is any recent activity not from you and to report it to the respective companies promptly to cancel the charge immediately. 

Contact Insurance Company and File a Claim

Many people get insurance when purchasing a cell phone, which can cover costs of repairs and replacements if it is damaged, lost, or even stolen. If you have an insurance policy for your cell phone, filing an insurance claim is important, as it helps to keep a report on hand, plus you will receive funds to help replace the phone to get a new one. 

How to Keep Personal Information Safe on Your Cell Phone

There are many ways to keep your personal information on your cell phone safe where the average person can’t get into it!

In this day and age, it’s important to keep your personal information safe on your cell phone to prevent people from hacking into it, whether it’s if they get their hands on your device, or even virtually. There are many ways to take precautions to protect your security and privacy in the digital age we live in.

Set Up a Passcode to Get Into Your Phone

One of the best ways to prevent anyone from getting in your cell phone is to set a passcode on your phone to unlock it. For many people, this is one of the first things that you can do to prevent people from easily getting on your phone and accessing all of your personal information, files, accounts, and even photos. 

Update Your Software

Another great thing to do is to always make sure that your cell phone is up to date with the most recent software no matter what kind of phone you have. Whether it’s Apple, Android, or any other popular cell phone brand, they consistently update the software, which usually comes with new security measures to keep your personal information private and protected.

Backup Your Data

The invention of the cloud that many mobile companies and tech brands use is essential nowadays where you’re able to store all of your personal information in one place. Make sure to continue to backup your data to your cloud, as it can help to keep all of your personal information in one place, which helps if your phone has become lost or stolen.

Use a Pin or Facial Recognition for Apps with Sensitive Information

There are many ways to continue to stay safe while accessing your personal information, such as bank or credit card accounts. Many of these accounts that have sensitive information require you to put in a PIN number or use facial recognition to verify that it is you before you can even log into the app. It is recommended to use this feature whenever it is asked to ensure that your privacy is protected, plus it helps keep all of your accounts secure for only you to see.

There are many reasons why law enforcement can access your cellular device, but in most cases it is if they have a probable cause to search it. Losing your cell phone, or even having it stolen is a huge issue nowadays, so it’s important to stay protected and keep your personal information safe with different security updates and software for your privacy and security.

Make sure to consider REALLY Mobile for all of your privacy and security purposes with their safe decentralized service with anonymous sign ups, private checkout, and full encryption for secure activation for personal cell phone use!