Sussex Police keeps mobile phone info from unconvicted suspects (From The Argus)
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Sussex Police keeps mobile phone info from unconvicted suspects
9:55am Wednesday 31st October 2012 in News By Anna Roberts, Crime reporter
Sussex Police is stockpiling information harvested from the mobile phones of suspects, The Argus can reveal.
The data – including text messages, call logs, pictures and contact numbers – is regularly downloaded from mobile phones at the forces one “extraction centre” in Sussex House, Hollingbury, Brighton.
One officer – who asked to remain anonymous – said even people who are arrested and then released without charge have their mobile details kept on file.
This growing database is being likened to the police’s controversial DNA archive, which forces quietly built up over the decades.
The officer told The Argus that information from mobile phones was being retained in case the crime they were initially arrested for needed to be reinvestigated in the future. Details from mobiles can be stored by the force indefinitely.
The officer told The Argus that mobile phones are not routinely seized and are not taken speculatively, but are used if police feel they will help gain evidence in cases.
He said: “We retain data recovered from phones. If we have an interest in seizing a phone as part of an investigation then we will. But it is a judgment in each case.”
He added: “People use their phones lots and they do help in cases. If a suspect pretends they don’t know someone and then they have texts from them, well that tells you something.
“Equally phones can put someone in a location.”
Mobile phone evidence was fundamental in two recent cases. Neale James exchanged numerous text messages with his mother Brenda James, who he killed and dumped in Goodwood, near Chichester, in March 2011.
Sean Iran, his father and brother were placed at the scene of where Stefan Welch’s body was dumped and burnt in Brighton in September 2011.
A Sussex Police spokesman yesterday said: “Police already have lawful authority, under Section 19 of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act, to seize and examine mobile phones of persons arrested if there is reasonable cause to believe that they may contain evidence relating to the case.
“At present in Sussex mobile phones seized in this way are sent to our central mobile phone examination unit for this to be done.”
The spokesman added that retention of “any information is in accordance with the Association of Chief Police Officers’ guidance”.
Civil liberties group Big Brother Watch has condemned the database. It said: “Where someone is not convicted of a crime it is absolutely wrong for the police to hang onto the contents of their phone.”
Comments(17)
Dr. Albert Hoffman
says...
1:23pm Wed 31 Oct 12
Stefan Paul Welch was not murdered in September of 2011 but in September of 2010.
R.I.P. Stef.
getThisCoalitionOut
says...
1:39pm Wed 31 Oct 12
Flippin Burghers
says...
2:10pm Wed 31 Oct 12
Cash Bull
says...
3:16pm Wed 31 Oct 12
getThisCoalitionOut wrote:If Sussex Police are indeed at the forefront, you have less than 1 in 3 chance of being caught as long as it is not a motoring offence. Do not worry, they are clueless....... TOP TIPS.... Never take your phone anywhere you do not want to be traced to...... Download Simple Encryption Applications, use TOR Browsers at home. Remove the battery on your phone when out. Or....Do as more and more people are doing. Stop using your phone for messages that count. ..... Do not post on Facebook and avoid Twitter. The Police can have my phone if I am stopped......It contains nothing, cost 14.99 and I have several more purchased by friends of friends friends. Simples.
Sussex police in the forefront to UK becoming a police state I see.
UglyAmerican
says...
8:59pm Wed 31 Oct 12
AmboGuy
says...
9:44pm Wed 31 Oct 12
gaz scott wrote:Really?? I've never even been asked by a stranger to lend them my mobile phone so it seems odd that you're 'always letting people use my phone even strangers'.
"If a suspect pretends they don’t know someone and then they have texts from them, well that tells you something."
It might do but it also might mean that the person lent his phone to someone else. As someone who never goes anywhere near his monthly contract allowance I'm always letting people use my phone even strangers on the street on several occasions. So my phone is full of calls to people I've never met in my life!
The key thing is, as with DNA data, these things should not form the basis of a case against someone or be used for "fishing expeditions".
Another strange coincidence I guess Gaz.
funkyyoyo
says...
12:26am Thu 1 Nov 12
funkyyoyo
says...
12:28am Thu 1 Nov 12
2401stuba
says...
12:54am Thu 1 Nov 12
John Steed
says...
5:43am Thu 1 Nov 12
Somethingsarejustwrong
says...
7:09am Thu 1 Nov 12
gaz scott wrote:Fantastic
"If a suspect pretends they don’t know someone and then they have texts from them, well that tells you something."
It might do but it also might mean that the person lent his phone to someone else. As someone who never goes anywhere near his monthly contract allowance I'm always letting people use my phone even strangers on the street on several occasions. So my phone is full of calls to people I've never met in my life!
The key thing is, as with DNA data, these things should not form the basis of a case against someone or be used for "fishing expeditions".
What a spectacularly insightful post, highlighting a range of risks and opportunities that none of us could have imagined existed.
Armed with this knowledge we can all sleep safely in our beds.
Cash Bull
says...
8:03am Thu 1 Nov 12
SomethingsarejustwroAgreed, although he sounds like an 'outreach' worker and dope smoker to boot.
ng wrote:
gaz scott wrote:Fantastic
"If a suspect pretends they don’t know someone and then they have texts from them, well that tells you something."
It might do but it also might mean that the person lent his phone to someone else. As someone who never goes anywhere near his monthly contract allowance I'm always letting people use my phone even strangers on the street on several occasions. So my phone is full of calls to people I've never met in my life!
The key thing is, as with DNA data, these things should not form the basis of a case against someone or be used for "fishing expeditions".
What a spectacularly insightful post, highlighting a range of risks and opportunities that none of us could have imagined existed.
Armed with this knowledge we can all sleep safely in our beds.
Somethingsarejustwrong
says...
8:17am Thu 1 Nov 12
Cash Bull wrote:Laugh Out Loud
SomethingsarejustwroAgreed, although he sounds like an 'outreach' worker and dope smoker to boot.
ng wrote:
gaz scott wrote:Fantastic
"If a suspect pretends they don’t know someone and then they have texts from them, well that tells you something."
It might do but it also might mean that the person lent his phone to someone else. As someone who never goes anywhere near his monthly contract allowance I'm always letting people use my phone even strangers on the street on several occasions. So my phone is full of calls to people I've never met in my life!
The key thing is, as with DNA data, these things should not form the basis of a case against someone or be used for "fishing expeditions".
What a spectacularly insightful post, highlighting a range of risks and opportunities that none of us could have imagined existed.
Armed with this knowledge we can all sleep safely in our beds.
He certainly sounds very special!
lorrie1
says...
11:12pm Thu 1 Nov 12
AmboGuy wrote:I lend my phone to people I dont know, but dont ask about the call , Its not my buisness (nor the polices) as long as they are quick calls i dont care.
gaz scott wrote: "If a suspect pretends they don’t know someone and then they have texts from them, well that tells you something." It might do but it also might mean that the person lent his phone to someone else. As someone who never goes anywhere near his monthly contract allowance I'm always letting people use my phone even strangers on the street on several occasions. So my phone is full of calls to people I've never met in my life! The key thing is, as with DNA data, these things should not form the basis of a case against someone or be used for "fishing expeditions".Really?? I've never even been asked by a stranger to lend them my mobile phone so it seems odd that you're 'always letting people use my phone even strangers'. Another strange coincidence I guess Gaz.
Why is this country turning into a police state? Wont be long till Britian is like N.korea.
They are slowly eating away OUR privacy. E-mails, phone calls, txt, dna etc, etc. Why stop there? They will be taking dna and finger prints from new born babies next!
funkyyoyo
says...
12:40am Fri 2 Nov 12
lorrie1 wrote:they probably do that already!!!
AmboGuy wrote:I lend my phone to people I dont know, but dont ask about the call , Its not my buisness (nor the polices) as long as they are quick calls i dont care. Why is this country turning into a police state? Wont be long till Britian is like N.korea. They are slowly eating away OUR privacy. E-mails, phone calls, txt, dna etc, etc. Why stop there? They will be taking dna and finger prints from new born babies next!gaz scott wrote: "If a suspect pretends they don’t know someone and then they have texts from them, well that tells you something." It might do but it also might mean that the person lent his phone to someone else. As someone who never goes anywhere near his monthly contract allowance I'm always letting people use my phone even strangers on the street on several occasions. So my phone is full of calls to people I've never met in my life! The key thing is, as with DNA data, these things should not form the basis of a case against someone or be used for "fishing expeditions".Really?? I've never even been asked by a stranger to lend them my mobile phone so it seems odd that you're 'always letting people use my phone even strangers'. Another strange coincidence I guess Gaz.
AmboGuy
says...
10:35pm Mon 5 Nov 12
lorrie1 wrote:Please please please tell me you're being ironic? I'm sure the poor people of North Korea would disagree with your ridiculous statement.
AmboGuy wrote:I lend my phone to people I dont know, but dont ask about the call , Its not my buisness (nor the polices) as long as they are quick calls i dont care.
gaz scott wrote: "If a suspect pretends they don’t know someone and then they have texts from them, well that tells you something." It might do but it also might mean that the person lent his phone to someone else. As someone who never goes anywhere near his monthly contract allowance I'm always letting people use my phone even strangers on the street on several occasions. So my phone is full of calls to people I've never met in my life! The key thing is, as with DNA data, these things should not form the basis of a case against someone or be used for "fishing expeditions".Really?? I've never even been asked by a stranger to lend them my mobile phone so it seems odd that you're 'always letting people use my phone even strangers'. Another strange coincidence I guess Gaz.
Why is this country turning into a police state? Wont be long till Britian is like N.korea.
They are slowly eating away OUR privacy. E-mails, phone calls, txt, dna etc, etc. Why stop there? They will be taking dna and finger prints from new born babies next!
gaz scott says...
10:23am Wed 31 Oct 12
It might do but it also might mean that the person lent his phone to someone else. As someone who never goes anywhere near his monthly contract allowance I'm always letting people use my phone even strangers on the street on several occasions. So my phone is full of calls to people I've never met in my life!
The key thing is, as with DNA data, these things should not form the basis of a case against someone or be used for "fishing expeditions".