If you are facing serious felony charges, such as drug charges or white-collar crime allegations, then you need to know exactly how the police can gather evidence in the case. There is a good chance that they will want to search for evidence on your cellphone. This could include pictures and videos you have taken, text messages you sent, logs of calls that you have made, or even your location data from your phone itself, just to name a few examples.
In most cases, the police only have two ways to access your device. They can either get your consent by asking you to unlock the phone for them or they can get a search warrant. But you also need to know about the Third Party Doctrine, which can have a significant impact by letting them get evidence from other entities.
Do you have an expectation of privacy?
You generally have an expectation of privacy for information that is on your personal device. But if you have shared that information with others, this can reduce or eliminate the expectation of privacy. You have turned over this information voluntarily, so those entities could then give the same information to the police even without a search warrant.
For example, perhaps you have backed up pictures and videos on a cloud server using a backup program. Perhaps you have sent text messages or direct messages using a social media app. Maybe you have given your cellphone provider or various applications on your phone access to your location data. In some cases, the police can approach these companies and get the information they want, even if they do not have a search warrant and do not get your consent to unlock your device.
High-level criminal investigations can become very complex, and it is important to have an experienced attorney on your side.
