Can a Greensboro criminal defense attorney explain what an officer can look through on a cell phone? Yes!
Generally, a police officer must obtain a warrant to look through your cell phone. The law is generally behind when it comes to technological advances, so it’s not exactly clear what all an officer is allowed to look through on a phone even when they have a search warrant. For more information on what extent an officer can access information on your cell phone, you should not hesitate to speak with a Greensboro criminal defense attorney today.
Much of what we access on our phone isn’t actual stored on the phone itself, but rather it’s stored remotely on a server. For example, most people store a lot of information on “the cloud.” Information on things such as the Gmail App, Google Drive, and social media applications are all information that is not stored locally on the cell phone. There are several arguments as to why an officer should be allowed to search through information on the cloud. The first of those being that it’s difficult for people to know what’s stored locally on the device and what’s stored using the cloud. Another one is that the phone user assumed the risk of someone being able to access that information through the cell phone itself rather than through another source. If you are concerned about this information being accessed, you should consult a Greensboro criminal defense attorney.
Arguments against allowing officers to search through cloud service information via cell phones is that it’s a slippery slope. This means that if we allow offices to search through all information on a cell phone, it could essentially allow for a search of the individual’s entire digital presence wherever it’s found. Thus, this opens the door to a wide array of potential abuse that can occur from accessing data that’s not actually stored on the cell phone. For more information regarding the law and how much access to information can be gained through your cell phone, you shouldn’t hesitate to speak with a Greensboro criminal defense lawyer today.
You should speak with a Greensboro criminal defense attorney today regarding what an officer can look through on your cell phone! The criminal defense attorneys at Garrett, Walker, Aycoth and Olson know the requirements of the law and also genuinely care about each case presented to them by their clients. Call today at 336-379-0539; we are here to help!