Met Police to extract suspects' mobile phone data

[Dermot7]

The Metropolitan Police has implemented a system to extract mobile phone data from suspects held in custody.

The data includes call history, texts and contacts, and the BBC has learned that it will be retained regardless of whether any charges are brought.

The technology is being used in 16 London boroughs, and could potentially be used by police across the UK.

Campaign group Privacy International described the move as a "possible breach of human rights law".

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-18102793

+ http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology...-mobile-phones

The Metropolitan Police is to use software that can extract mobile phone contents, including call records and past GPS location data, even if the SIM is locked, as part of a new scheme to speed up crime investigation.

Radio Tactics has announced the roll out of its specialist ACESO mobile device data extraction solution into Metropolitan Police Service boroughs across the metropolis, as part of a wider partnership to collaborate on technology to solve crime.

http://www.radio-tactics.com/news/th...pability/290/1

[Dermot7]

The courts have clearly said indefinitely retaining personal information is not acceptable and it appears the Met are flagrantly disregarding the law.

Where someone is not convicted of a crime it is absolutely wrong for the police to hang onto the contents of their phone.

http://www.bigbrotherwatch.org.uk/ho...hone-data.html

[PaulyDefran]

In other news, owner's of WhisperCore'd Nexus S' were heard laughing loudly at today's announcement.

PD

[JackReacher]

Should WhisperCore users be laughing seeing as WhisperCore was bought by Twitter, a corporation whose business model is based around harvesting its users personal data?

This is a genuine question, does this change in ownership jeopardize Whispercore's mission of protecting user data? Or will WhisperCore's products continue to protect your personal data, even from themselves?

In regards to the article, It seems every time I open up a paper the UK has taken yet another civil liberty away from its citizens.

[roady]

Originally Posted by PaulyDefran

In other news, owner's of WhisperCore'd Nexus S' were heard laughing loudly at today's announcement.

PD

They are the only ones......as WhisperCore is ,AFAIK,the only Android app that supports FULL disc encryption,and it's still not ported to other devices.....wonder wat will happen in the near future now that Twitter bought it a while ago......Ice cream Sandwich has buid-in encryption,but I bet that this 1 is easy to circumvent for Law Enforcement agencies....

[mirimir]

Originally Posted by roady

WhisperCore is ,AFAIK,the only Android app that supports FULL disc encryption,and it's still not ported to other devices.

In the UK, refusal to provide encryption keys is itself a crime (worth two years, if memory serves).

[hashed]

Originally Posted by mirimir

In the UK, refusal to provide encryption keys is itself a crime (worth two years, if memory serves).

One reason (among many) I will never visit the UK; not that the US is too far behind with their draconian measures.

[chronomatic]

Originally Posted by mirimir

In the UK, refusal to provide encryption keys is itself a crime (worth two years, if memory serves).

Yeah and it is my understanding the Cops don't even need a warrant. They can just walk up to you on the street at random and say "give me those crypto keys or go to jail."

[PaulyDefran]

I agree with you guy's about WC/Twitter...v0.5.5 was the last 'independent' version before the buy out. But It still works, as does Gingerbread 2.3.5, and always should. I'm not a 'phone guy', so I can't see wanting to upgrade for a long, long time. I've still got the installer, and a phone image. They *did* open source TextSecure, so who knows...but yeah, I don't trust Twitter either, and don't use it.

Also, good call on UK law...forgot about that and was being US centric. Glad I don't live there.

ICS encryption bases it's key on the screen unlock code IIRC. On 2.3.5 there is a max of 16 characters, I don't know about ICS, or how thoroughly it's been studied.

Cellebrite puts out PR announcements about being able to bypass this and that, for certain models...but I don't know if that's for ICS encrypted phones, or just marketing hype...which companies are known to do, ie.

"XYZ Company is proud to announce TrueCrypt Decryption!...as long as the computer is up and running and you can dump the memory...we can't do anything with a shut down computer or an unmounted container.

PD