Cops can search mobile phones – only if they’re not password-protected

A provincial appeals court in Canada has ruled that police can search the mobile phone of an arrested person only if there is no password on that phone. With a digital locking mechanism, however, officers must get a warrant.

“In this case, it is significant that the cell phone was apparently not password protected or otherwise ‘locked’ to users other than the appellant when it was seized,” the Court of Appeal for Ontario, wrote in its unanimous decision. “Furthermore, the police had a reasonable belief that it would contain relevant evidence.”