Michigan State Po-Po downloading smartphone data on minor traffic stops

[AZRedhawk44]

http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/34/3458.asp

"Complete extraction of existing, hidden, and deleted phone data, including call history, text messages, contacts, images, and geotags," a CelleBrite brochure explains regarding the device's capabilities. "The Physical Analyzer allows visualization of both existing and deleted locations on Google Earth. In addition, location information from GPS devices and image geotags can be mapped on Google Maps."

For a traffic stop.

A frakking traffic stop.

Facebook isn't enough, evidently.  Unhappy with the cross-reference capabilities of the NSA datamining your email inbox via Facebook (which most of dumb America voluntarily allowed), they are now forcibly taking your smartphone by proxy of State Troopers in MI, using vendor-firmware backdoors, and cross-referencing dumb America's tendency to integrate Facebook crap on their phone, into contact lists (with phone numbers, addresses, names, text conversations, etc).

Hey, whatever protects us from terrorism.

If you've got nothing to hide, then you've got nothing to worry about.

[RocketMan]

I saw this story a few minutes ago.  It will be interesting to see how it shakes out with the ACLU up in arms over it.  Them popos are putting some serious dents in the 4th.

[RevDisk]

Use encryption.  Load up your phone with plenty of inaccurate information.  And consider installing a locking compartment in your vehicle.  Put your money, cell phone, etc in it.  Under existing and legal asset seizure laws, it's not just your cell phone that they can arrest.  No, I'm not bloody kidding.  It is legal to arrest inanimate objects.

It's obviously blatantly unconstitutional, and a bad idea in general.  I doubt this will be the last we'll see of it.

[Boomhauer]

This *expletive deleted* *expletive deleted* has been going on since 2008!!!!??!!!!!

It's not just smartphones...it's all phones, such as my GZOne Boulder and then even the previous generation of "dumb" phones we used to use...

What. The. *expletive deleted*.??!!??



And yet people just do that little, stupid laugh when you try to talk about the ever increasing police state...

[erictank]

Under what imagined authority do they believe they can do this?  The Fourth Amendment would seem to be a hard/fast bright line in this case - a "Nope.  Ain't happ'nin," kinda thing.  And it says in the article that it can defeat password protection, too?  How the hell is this legal?  And how can MISP justify charging ACLU *HALF A MILLION DOLLARS* to respond to their request for records of the use of the device?  Turnabout's fair play, here, IMO - if MISP has done nothing wrong, then they have nothing to hide and should provide the requested information.

The phrase "police state" is getting thrown around more and more these days.  There's a reason for that, IMO.

[vaskidmark]

Help me understand this.  Are the Michigan cops asking/saying "If you have nothing to hide you shouldn't mind letting us do this"?  Or are they saying "We will do this regardless of your objection"?

If folks are dumb enough to allow this then they pretty much deserve what happens.  If the cops are telling folks they must submit then there may not be enough lampposts in the state.

stay safe.

[Battle Monkey of Zardoz]

Move along. Nothing to see here. Just good ole cops who want to go home at the end of their shift. Those evil cell phones might prevent that.

This, IMO, is just further conformation that police, in attitude and action, think that they are a different class, better than other animals.

[HankB]

Hmmm . . . two phones . . . one real phone you'll hide, then a decoy phone, hopefully loaded with plenty of bogus information that incriminates varioius public officials, or a virus that will infect the Physical Analyzer . . .

[Fly320s]

The article didn't mention it, so what is the point of downloading the phone data?  What are the cops trying to accomplish?  How does the data help the police to "serve and protect?"

[Fly320s]

Hmmm . . . two phones . . . one real phone you'll hide, then a decoy phone, hopefully loaded with plenty of bogus information that incriminates varioius public officials, or a virus that will infect the Physical Analyzer . . .

There probably is a current law, or soon will be, against having a decoy phone. It might even fall under the umbrella of hiding evidence.

[GigaBuist]

Help me understand this.  Are the Michigan cops asking/saying "If you have nothing to hide you shouldn't mind letting us do this"?  Or are they saying "We will do this regardless of your objection"?

No idea.  I was pulled over by a MSP trooper about a month ago and nothing was said about my cell phone.

Or the loaded Glock in the glovebox. :)

[zxcvbob]

Under what imagined authority do they believe they can do this?

Probably "officer safety", or perhaps "fighting trrrism", or "War on Drugs".  Those seem to be the magic incantations that cause judges to say "that seems reasonable" and let the cops do whatever they want.  And if it ever doesn't work, the only penalty is suppression of the evidence that they would not have obtained other wise.  

[brimic]

I wonder if MI has a law banning texting while driving like we have in WI?
Wouldn't surprise me if they use a somewhat innocuous law that nobody follows as a pretext to snooping your phone contents.

[T.O.M.]

Hey, I read the article, and I'm kind of confused...how did we get from buying some equipment to using it on motorists during minor traffic stops?  Did I miss something in the article?  Seriously, point it out if I did miss something, because from what I just read, the author assumes that because it can be used on a motorist stopped for a traffic offense, that's what it's for.  Using the same logic, my local PD just bought a pair of new suppressed MP-5's to shoot children on the playground who bully other children.

On a serious note, the Supreme Court has ruled that if an officer expands a traffic stop beyond the offense, the officer must have a reasonable, articulable suspicion of criminal activit (Terry vs. Ohio standard), of the officer must inform the motorist he/she is free to go, and then request consent to expand the stop.  best response I've ever seen to such a request is "I'd love to cooperate with you, officer, but I'm on a schedule, and the traffic stop kind of threw that off a bit, so I can't afford to be here any longer." 

Personally, if you wanna hook up my smartphone, I'm requesting to see the warrant.  Yes, I may end up in cuffs, but that's what I'm gonna do.

[GigaBuist]

I wonder if MI has a law banning texting while driving like we have in WI?

Yep, brand spanking new law.  It's a primary offense too.

[TechMan]

Chris,
Here is a little bit of a different article on the subject.  It claims that the devices have already been used to download stopped motorists.
http://www.clickondetroit.com/news/27564088/detail.html

[cassandra and sara's daddy]

known of cops mining cellphones in dope cases. and in one kid disappearance.  never eard of it at aa simple traffic stop.  a stop with a k of coke in the trunk yea

[dogmush]

EMP generator in your drivers door, plus a copper mesh cell phone envelope. 

Problem solved.

[birdman]

EMP generator in your drivers door, plus a copper mesh cell phone envelope. 

Problem solved.

Why not just modify a smartphone with a nice fat electrolytic cap, some charge pump circuitry, and dump 30V at like 100A across all the data pins on the USB if a code isn't included.  Warn the police. "sir, my phone is a special phone and will likely not work with your equipment, and may cause damage". Cop plugs in device, fries his Orwell-a-tron.  Repeat as necessary, preferably while recording it.  Observe how many times police connect phone to various equipment, estimate IQ as 100/number of times.  I wonder if you could be charged for that if you didn't give them permission, and warned them.

[AZRedhawk44]

Why not just modify a smartphone with a nice fat electrolytic cap, some charge pump circuitry, and dump 30V at like 100A across all the data pins on the USB if a code isn't included.  Warn the police. "sir, my phone is a special phone and will likely not work with your equipment, and may cause damage". Cop plugs in device, fries his Orwell-a-tron.  Repeat as necessary, preferably while recording it.  Observe how many times police connect phone to various equipment, estimate IQ as 100/number of times.  I wonder if you could be charged for that if you didn't give them permission, and warned them.

Surgically alter the USB pin-outs on your phone, then mod a custom charging and data cable back at home.

It won't fry the device.

But the device won't read it, either.


ETA:  Add a switch to the mod, so that the pinouts can be standard based on one switch position, and nonstandard in the other.

Or, use a custom wire translating harness between the nonstandard phone USB port and the standard USB cable.

[dogmush]

No, birdman's right.  We want to break their toys.

His idea is more elegant then mine, but mine has the added fun of maybe getting the officer's personal cell phone in the pulse.  Need a big cap though.  I've seen ~3F 12V caps for car audio applications.  We only need a couple feet range.  And maybe a directional antenna.

[birdman]

No, birdman's right.  We want to break their toys.

His idea is more elegant then mine, but mine has the added fun of maybe getting the officer's personal cell phone in the pulse.  Need a big cap though.  I've seen ~3F 12V caps for car audio applications.  We only need a couple feet range.  And maybe a directional antenna.

Those caps aren't suitable to drive an HPM, their internal resistance is too high (too long of a pulse).  With the proper pulse forming, they might be useful for an initial stage.  Also, most sources require relatively high voltage. 

[roo_ster]

Why not just modify a smartphone with a nice fat electrolytic cap, some charge pump circuitry, and dump 30V at like 100A across all the data pins on the USB if a code isn't included.  Warn the police. "sir, my phone is a special phone and will likely not work with your equipment, and may cause damage". Cop plugs in device, fries his Orwell-a-tron.  Repeat as necessary, preferably while recording it.  Observe how many times police connect phone to various equipment, estimate IQ as 100/number of times.  I wonder if you could be charged for that if you didn't give them permission, and warned them.

Nice.

I'm guessing an IQ of 50.

[birdman]

Nice.

I'm guessing an IQ of 50.

Too kind, I bet they'd fry the first one, the one in the cruiser who showed up for backup, and the one at the station.  And I bet that would still happen if you warned them each time.

[seeker_two]

EMP generator in your drivers door, plus a copper mesh cell phone envelope. 

Problem solved.

I was thinking more of mounting the EMP on the rear of my truck facing the police cruiser....fry the toys before they even leave the vehicle....