In many cases, police or investigators want to gather digital evidence while conducting an investigation. This often involves a person’s cellphone. They may want to see a list of calls that person made or check their location data to see where they were at a specific time.
As a general rule, the police cannot force someone to unlock their phone and turn over this information. That means that they first need to get a search warrant. Only if they are executing a valid warrant can the person be compelled to unlock their device without their consent.
But there is also something known as the third-party doctrine, which can give investigators other options.
The expectation of privacy
People have an expectation of privacy when it comes to their own cellphones. But that expectation is reduced if they voluntarily give information to other parties.
The doctrine was created by a court case where investigators wanted a list of calls that a man had made on a landline, and the phone company had that information. The court determined that they did not need to get a warrant to get the list of phone calls from the company because the man who made those calls had a reduced expectation of privacy.
Today, this can be extrapolated to cellphone use. The cellphone company could turn over things like location data, call logs, text messages and things of this nature. The same can be true for certain tech companies, such as social media companies that may turn over direct messages.
Your defense options
This can change how the police investigate your case, and it is very important to be aware of it when determining what defense options you want to use and how to build your case moving forward.