Via BoingBoing [2]:
In a 5-2 ruling Monday, the California Supreme Court allowed police to search the cell phones of people who are arrested even without possessing a warrant [3], saying defendants lose their privacy rights for any items they're carrying when taken into custody. So, if you're arrested unfairly for some reason, cops can still search your smartphone and presumably copy, say, all your contacts or emails or phone or text records, all without a warrant. No possible abuse scenarios there, right?
Yet another reason to always password protect your devices and use encryption [4] wherever and whenever possible. I wonder how this is going to jive with the recent decision from the sixth circuit court of appeals to extend fourth amendment protections to email [5]?
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Links:
[1] http://commons.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Mobile_phone_PHS_Japan_1997-2003.jpg
[2] http://www.boingboing.net/2011/01/04/ca-court-okays-cellp.html
[3] http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/01/03/BA5N1H3G12.DTL&tsp=1
[4] http://lifehacker.com/178005/geek-to-live--encrypt-your-data
[5] http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2010/12/breaking-news-eff-victory-appeals-court-holds
[6] http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2011/01/warrantless-cell-phone-search-gets-a-green-light-in-california.ars
[7] http://www.textually.org/textually/archives/2011/01/027556.htm
[8] http://www.inquisitr.com/94593/kiss-even-more-of-your-privacy-good-bye-thanks-california/
[9] http://www.zemanta.com/
[10] http://www.addtoany.com/share_save?linkurl=http%3A%2F%2Fthehindsightfactor.com%2Fscotus-government-goons-entitled-warrantless-cellphone-searches-after-arres&linkname=SCOTUS%3A%20Government%20goons%20entitled%20to%20warrantless%20cellphone%20searches%20after%20arrest
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