Your phone stores a wealth of information about you. This includes your location data, pictures and videos that you took, a log of your calls and copies of text messages and direct messages, just to name a few examples.
If the police are conducting a criminal investigation, there is a good chance that they are going to want to search your phone to see if they can find any relevant evidence. There are typically three ways they can do it.
With your consent
To start, the police can ask for your consent. You are not obligated to give it, but the choice is yours. They can legally search your phone if you unlock it for them voluntarily.
With a search warrant
If you refuse to give them consent, then the police can go to a judge and get a search warrant. If the search warrant is issued for your device, then they are allowed to search it even without your approval.
Through a third party
Finally, the third-party doctrine means that the police may not always need your phone at all. They can get your information from other sources if you have voluntarily given that information to a third party.
A common example of this is if you authorize your cellphone service provider or another company to access your location data. The police may want to see where you were at a certain time, and they may be able to request that data from this third party, even if they cannot unlock your phone itself.
Your defense options
When facing criminal charges, it is important to consider how the police can gather evidence and what procedures they must follow. This can be important as you consider all of your legal defense options.
