So I ask you NYSpeed, do you think cops should be able to go through your phone?
IMO, there certainly are limits. Border patrol, for instance, has a much better justification for this. With a modern phone we can save videos and pictures, and you’re importing this into another country. I can see the side of the argument against this, since phones/laptops may have stored passwords. An office is three clicks away from wide access to your bank account or confidential work records. But on the other end, kiddie pr0n, stolen documents and the like.
I’m more inclined to say no, without being arrested prior to the search, they shouldn’t be able to whip out your iphone and call the contact labeled “WeedMan”.
it depends on where you are, if you get pulled over and there is something that gives a cop probable couse to search you and your car, for example, him seeing illegal drugs in your backseat, that would give him probable cause, so he could take your phone and search along with everything else in your possesion at the time.
I really really hate that argument, because it isnt really an argument at all.
Everyone has something to hide. You work for a company, it makes things, proprietary things. Things people outside the company arent to supposed to see.
You have bank records, SSN, credit cards, and many other things that are available to you online. If you have nothing to hide, post your credit card numbers (with pin if it’s a debit card) and security code up here.
Secondary question, Locutus chime in. Would anything a cop found on your phone be admissible seeing as they’re not “qualified”? or am I way off on that line of thinking?
The problem is that everyone will trust a cop when it matters over anyone else.
So if they decide to plant something cause they saw something that wasn’t illegal. but they just didn’t like. The more personal information the authorities know about you the less you can claim we are truly free.
I don’t want this to be 1984. and anything that seems like a little step towards that is not something i want. Like face recognition software for cameras that is less than 50% accurate that they want to start putting places. I don’t know about you, but i don’t want to get mistaken for someone that i’m not.
The constitution was designed to protect us from a government that became tyrannical like england was. So every right they decide we don’t need (freedom of speech, the right to bare arms, freedom of religion) put them one step closer to becoming exactly what the country was founded to defend against. This country was built on revolution and it should never forget that.
Sorry I’m a bit paranoid about things… But i figure those rights were put there for the people and any government official that wants to take those away clearly isn’t for the people.
Are you a cop? If so you already have access to all that information, you don’t need me or my phone to get it. What exactly am I trying to hide? Especially in the incident that I get pulled over for speeding… I’m not stashing my weed under the seat or a gun in the glove box. The cop isn’t going to hand me a speeding ticket and as for my cell phone. Get a grip.
How is law enforcement acting out a search based on probable cause in violation to your civil rights? Are you opposed to roadblocks as well? The patriot act got a bad rep because it wasn’t exactly rolled out in the best way. Do I give a shit if the FBI/CIA/AAA hears what I’m talking about on the phone? Fuck no. What the hell are you people doing with your cell phones that you’re going to cry about it on the internet?
Unless you’re dating a 12yr old, you have nothing to worry about. Like I said, cops have access to this information if and when they need it anyway.
For those of you who have actually read the article, and read at a 5th grade level or higher, you’ll understand that the entire thing was written on an idea, that cops would be able to search the phone as if it were a “container”… not that it is a new law, or that it is an epidemic and you should immediately destroy your phone in case of pursuit. Its called probable cause… you give them a reason and they will know what the inside of your ass looks like.
So you’re honestly worried about cops planting information into your cell phone? HAHAHA
If you are, you’re probably doing something wrong. Sorry… that thought never crossed my mind.
The first time I was arrested the cop fabricated most of the story. It was thrown out of court. Geee… you know what? If he had my cell phone he could have taken pictures and put them in my phone… and then he would have had a case. Thank god I don’t have an i-phone… I’d be in jail for something I didn’t do.
Im not really sure what you’re trying to get at here.
Are you saying that a cop can have, at the scene of a pullover, my bank information, SSN, and proprietary company information?
The SSN, I can beleive they could get, but personal emails detailing…well who knows what? There are some pretty obscure, and outrageous laws, that you could be indicated in through your personal correspondence.
Yes yes, I’ll agree this is all hypothetical, but that’s why I asked a general question and didn’t come here ranting like a fat-neckbearded nerd about something that isn’t really a problem.
(although from arstechnica again, man arrested after border agents searched his laptop and found kiddie porn…Although I generally feel border agents have much wider powers than a cop pulling you over for speeding)
Mike - The point I’m making is that unless you give them probable cause, you have nothing to worry about. If you have something to hide… don’t put it on your cell phone… or lock your phone.
It is good to hear that some sick fucking bastard got caught on the border… those are the things that make me more and more willing to cooperate with painless investigations. If they want the number to NAPA or Autozone… sure its on my phone… but super sneaky plans to blow up the NYSPEED isn’t in there… so they can look all they want.
Airports were also mentioned in the article… along with the “container” thought… and they should also be able to check your shit before they let you on a plane. Not only that your laptop bag contains a lap top but that the laptop doesn’t contain a flight plan to send my plane into a building.
I stopped reading when they tried to argue that a cop has the right to do an arrest search when you get pulled over for a seatbelt violation. The article lost all credibility at that point. They can only do an arrest search IF THEY ARREST YOU. If you’re getting arrested after being pulled over for not wearing your seatbelt you had to have done something else blatently illegal in plain sight or had a warrant out for your arrest.
right the point isnt that theyre gonna find incriminating evidence on my phone, if you are doing something illegal you will prob get caught and as well you should
but the fact that im not doing anything wrong and hypothetically some cop that feels like being an asshole gets to read all my personal conversations and see pictures of my gf or whatever…that is invasion of privacy
ive been searched with no probable cause before, some (not all) cops will stereotype and do what they feel like regardless