If you don’t intentionally protect your digital privacy during an arrest in Utah, you may not realize when it is violated or understand the consequences of keeping law enforcement out of your phone or other devices when possible.
Protect your digital privacy by refusing to consent to a phone search. If police ask to search any of your other devices, say no. Don’t tell them your phone’s password or anything that could indicate it, either. Typically, law enforcement needs your consent to search your phone without a warrant, so don’t give it to them. Protect your digital privacy before interactions with policy by disabling biometrics and choosing strong passwords.
For a free and confidential case assessment from our Salt Lake City, UT criminal defense lawyers, call Overson & Bugden now at (801) 758-2287.
How Can You Protect Your Digital Privacy During an Arrest in Utah?
In Riley v. California, the United States Supreme Court held that seizing and searching an individual’s phone without a warrant or their consent violates the Fourth Amendment and is unconstitutional. Law enforcement can legally search your phone or other devices without a warrant if you give your consent, so never do this, even if law enforcement claims they are doing it to exclude you.
Don’t Consent to a Phone Search
Do not consent to a police officer’s request to search your phone or any other electronic device. Make law enforcement get a warrant before they search any of your devices, since they may not have enough probable cause to do so.
Don’t Provide the Passcode
Even if police officers get a warrant to search your phone, they can’t compel you to tell them the password. It’s important to note that biometric features, such as facial and fingerprint recognition, might be used to unlock a device, so disable them before an anticipated encounter with the police.
Assert Your Right to Remain Silent
Always assert your right to remain silent, even if you are confused about the reason for the arrest or why police officers want access to your phone. Law enforcement might misrepresent the situation, intimidate you into providing incriminating information, or force you into a false confession, and the best way to avoid this is by asserting your right to remain silent and your right to an attorney.
What Does Law Enforcement Have to Do to Search Your Phone?
To legally search your phone without your consent, the police generally need a warrant.
Get a Warrant
Because of the Fourth Amendment’s protections against unreasonable search and seizure, law enforcement must get a warrant in order to search your phone. Smartphones and other electronic devise carry a high expectation of privacy. While police officers may take your cellphone during an arrest, they generally need a warrant to view its contents.
Show Exigent Circumstances
Warrants are not required to search cell phones when “exigent circumstances” apply. If law enforcement has probable cause to believe the contents of a digital device are vital to an emergency, they might legally conduct a warrantless search. Our Park City, UT criminal defense lawyers could challenge that search later and potentially get any evidence derived from it suppressed.
What if Your Digital Privacy Was Invaded During an Arrest in Utah?
If law enforcement invaded your digital privacy during an arrest in Utah and illegally viewed the contents of your phone or other electronic device, our lawyers may file a motion to suppress whatever evidence police officers found and gave to the prosecution to use against you.
A search going beyond the scope of the warrant, a warrant being issued based on false information, or a warrantless search of an individual’s digital device without showing exigent circumstances are all reasons to file a motion to suppress evidence. If illegally obtained evidence found on your phone is the main basis of the prosecution’s case against you, they may be forced to drop the charges.
FAQs About Protecting Your Digital Privacy During an Arrest
What is the Third-Party Loophole?
In 2019, Utah passed the Electronic Information or Data Privacy Act. Previously, law enforcement could bypass the warrant requirement to search a phone by obtaining the consent of the third-party data storage company for data backed up to the cloud. Now, law enforcement also needs a warrant to obtain phone data from third-party data storage companies.
How Can I Protect My Digital Privacy Before an Arrest?
Not enabling biometrics helps protect your digital privacy before any interactions with law enforcement, preventing anyone from using your face or fingerprint to unlock your device. Choosing strong, difficult-to-guess passwords is also important.
Can Police Officers Take My Phone During an Arrest?
Per Riley v. California, law enforcement can take and hold your phone, along with other belongings on your person, after arresting you, but they can’t look through it without your consent or a warrant.
Don’t physically resist attempts to take your phone or other personal property during an arrest.
Do I Have to Verbally Refuse Consent for Police to Search My Phone?
You must verbally refuse to consent to law enforcement searching your phone if they ask. Otherwise, they might argue your lack of objection as consent and access your phone’s contents.
Does Law Enforcement Need a Warrant to Access My Social Media Accounts?
Law enforcement doesn’t need a warrant to see any part of your digital footprint that is public, like public social media posts. To access private information, such as archived posts, direct messages, and restricted posts, law enforcement typically needs a warrant.
Do I Need a Lawyer to Protect My Digital Privacy?
Our attorneys may help protect your privacy by suppressing illegally obtained digital evidence and arguing that law enforcement lacked sufficient probable cause to obtain a warrant in the first place, or that their reasons were based on false information.
Call Our Lawyers in Utah for Help with Your Case Today
For a free case evaluation from our Provo, UT criminal defense lawyers, call Overson & Bugden now at (801) 758-2287.
