How aluminum foil could stop warrantless cell phone searches

In a recent paper, William and Mary Law School Professor Adam Gershowitz discusses situations where police arrest someone and would like to search their phone for more evidence. Under the Fourth Amendment, cops can search a person’s pockets and open containers such as a briefcase, but not closed locations (unless it’s an emergency). Courts, however, disagree on whether a phone (and its contact list, call logs, pictures and so on) is like a briefcase or more like a locked container that requires special permission to search.

Gershowitz noted that some police departments are using a device called the “Universal Forensic Extraction Device,” which can suck up the entire contents of a cell phone in less than 90 seconds so investigators may examine a copy of the contents later on. He adds, however, that the devices are too expensive to provide to every single cop and, that civil liberties groups like ACLU have challenged their legality. Poorer police departments can simply buy a roll of aluminum foil for $2 in a grocery store and leave it in their vehicle. When the police seize a phone, they simply have to wrap the phone in a few layers of aluminum foil and the chance of remote wiping of the phone will be almost completely eliminated.