Fourth Amendment Meet iPhone
Techdirt points to an article titled " the iPhone Meets the Fourth Amendment":
Imagine that police arrest an individual for a simple
traffic infraction, such as running a stop sign. Under the search incident to
arrest doctrine, officers are entitled to search the body of the person they
are arresting to ensure that he does not have any weapons or will not destroy
any evidence. The search incident to an arrest is automatic and allows officers
to open containers on the person, even if there is no probable cause to believe
there is anything illegal inside of those containers. What happens, however,
when the arrestee is carrying an iPhone in his pocket? May the police search
the iPhone's call history, cell phone contacts, emails, pictures, movies,
calendar entries and, perhaps most significantly, the browsing history from
recent internet use? Under longstanding Supreme Court precedent decided well
before handheld technology was even contemplated, the answer appears to be yes.
This article demonstrates how the full contents and multiple applications of
iPhones can be searched without a warrant or probable cause under existing
Supreme Court precedent. The article also offers approaches courts and
legislatures might adopt to ensure greater protection for the soon-to-be
pervasive iPhone devices.
I guess that's one reason why it makes sense to *lock* your phone (computer, etc.). Earlier NYT article here. Prof. Orin Kerr has written a slew of posts on this (and related) topics at the Volokh Conspiracy, including a recent one here ("Magistrate Judge Finds Fifth Amendment Right Not to Enter Encryption Passphrase").


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