Breaking The Law? Put A Password On Your BlackBerry

Mike Masnick reported on Techdirt about a scary twist on the fourth amendment. According to a paper written by Adam Gershowitz, a criminal law professor, police have the right to search the contents of your smartphone if you are arrested. I am no lawyer but the idea is that if you are arrested then any “container” found on your body is searchable including your phone logs, sms, email… you get the picture.

From the article:

police can search through any container found on the body of a person who has been arrested. It does not matter that the arrest was for running a stop sign, or speeding, or some other seemingly minor traffic infraction. Regardless of the reason for the arrest, police can search through every container on the person’s body, even if the police have no suspicion that there is anything illegal in it. A few courts have concluded that this doctrine permits police to search text messages found on cell phones. My article explores the circumstances under which police can now search not only text messages, but also the email, pictures, movies, calendar entries, and internet browsing history found on iPhones and similar devices — even if the police have no suspicion that there is anything illegal on the iPhone. In short, the article explores ways in which the police can search through the thousands of pages of data on individuals’ wireless technology even if there is no probable cause or other suspicion of illegal activity.”

This is just another great reason for locking you BlackBerry. If you are in the middle of some insider stock trading scandal or are just paranoid then I recommend following these steps to secure your berry:

Set the password and timeout option:

1. Select Options, then Security.
2. Next to “Password”, highlight the word Disable and click the trackwheel or trackball.
3. Select Change Option, then Enable.
4. Enter your password and press the Enter key.
5. Enter your password again to verify it.
6. Next to “Security Timeout,” highlight the displayed time and click the trackwheel or trackball.
7. Select Change Option, and choose a reasonable time for the handheld to time out and lock.
8. To exit the “Security” screen, press the back key. You will be prompted to save. Select Yes.