If you are arrested, the police can seize your phone as evidence. You may not get your device back in a workable condition or at all if police seize it, which is why we would always advise you NOT to carry your phone if you think you may be arrested.
Police do not have the right to access your phone during a routine stop and search (see our ‘taking your phone on a protest‘ guide). If police have seized your phone, they may want you to unlock it for them so they can access the data on it. Legally, they need a warrant to make you do this, so you can refuse.
In the UK this warrant is called a Section 49 RIPA notice, and failure to comply with it can have serious legal consequences. It is usually only issued for very serious offences such as terrorism or child sexual offences. Seek legal advice if you are in this situation. However, once police have your phone, they can access the information using specialist software with or without your permission.
If you or your friends phone has been taken by police, let people in your group know and make sure that the number is removed from any group chats / shared workspaces it is associated with. This is a damage limitation measure – it will not prevent police from accessing existing data on the phone, but it will stop new messages etc being seen by police.
Unfortunately if police have taken your phone, you should consider that anything stored on your phone may be seen by police, including deleted files and encrypted messages. If your device is returned to you by police after an arrest, we would advise you to get a new phone and change your number.
If you want to find out more about this issue, Privacy International have produced comprehensive resources on police access to phone data.
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