People often communicate on their phones through text messages or direct messages. In fact, modern phone users often text more than they call. This means of communication has simply taken over, and so it is one place that police often look when conducting an investigation.
In many cases, though, they have to get a search warrant to look at someone’s phone. If the police are investigating you for illegal drug sales or financial fraud, for example, they can’t force you to open your phone as part of that investigation. If you don’t give them your consent, then they have to get a search warrant from a judge, and only then can you be compelled to give them access to your device.
Tech companies
However, the police have discovered that they sometimes do not actually need the device. If the messages were sent through certain platforms, they may still be stored in the cloud. Those messages are not exclusively on the device, so the police can get the information from elsewhere.
One way that this has played out is when police wanted to read direct messages that were sent between two people on Facebook. They didn’t actually need the device because they served the warrant to Facebook, and the company turned over the records. Some believe that this may become even more common in the future, as police use tech companies and cloud servers as a way to gather evidence.
These tech changes and developments can make criminal defense cases very complicated. Those facing charges need to know about all of their legal options.