Can the Police (or any one else) confiscate someones mobile phone and can they look at the contents ie texts?

Question

I am looking to see if an employer (especially a government egency) can take your phone off you for security reasons and interogate it's contents such as used numbers, text messages, pictures. Where I work this is a standard practice for persons found on the premises with a mobile phone & i do not think that it is legal.

Answer 1

To give an accurate answer, I would have to know several things such as:

Who is your employer?
Is the phone yours or the company’s?
Have you given permission for your phone to be examined through signing a contract or similar agreement to allow this as an employee?
Are you suspected of a criminal offence?
What Country are you in?

If you work for certain government agencies, they may have more powers in law then the Police.
If the phone belongs to the company they can probably do what they like with it.
If you've signed to give permission to allow your phone to be examined then that answers your question.
If you are in the UK and suspected of a criminal offence then the Police can look at your phone if it's necessary to do so in order to attempt to prevent or detect crime.
This is an infringement of your human rights, (the right to privacy and family life) but this can be overridden if the reason for the infringement is to prevent or detect crime.
The Police would however have to use the powers under RIPA (regulation of investigatory powers act 2000) and would need to justify why they were exercising these powers.

See the link for more info: http://security.homeoffice.gov.uk/ripa/about-ripa/news/new-website?version=1

So in short, yes, the Police can look at your phone but they would have to do so if in doing so they were investigating a criminal offence.
As for whether your company can, that would depend on the factors listed above.

Answer 2

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Answer 3

Yes, provided there is a notice posted that no cell phones are allowed, that it is required of everyone and it is a set policy. Government agencies must maintain security on many issues. If you don't like it, find another job. Your right to have and use a cell phone in privacy ended when you took the job.
Lock it in your car or leave it at home, just don't take it to work if you want privacy.

It is just as legal as an auto company saying that the company will provide parking only for employees who drive cars made by the company.

With a private company all they can do to an employee having an unauthorized cell phone is fire him. There again though it must be a posted policy.

Then there are those times when the phone belongs to someone suspected of a crime. Usually a warrant is needed, but there are times when whatever is on the phone that can be seen by pressing the buttons is the same as a regular search, as of a car, purse, briefcase, etc..

Answer 4

The best reverse cell phone lookup service that I have tried is http://reversephone.toptips.org

From using a reverse cell phone lookup you will be able to get the callers name and address just
by typing the phone numbers they will tell you the details related to the number.
The reverse cell phone lookup service has your details available they will give you the cell phones location. For a full report including a name and address and other interesting informations you will have to pay.
Enter the number in the system and they will tell you a lot of informations about the phone number and the person who owns it.
If they have extra details you will have to pay for the report.
Free reverse phone lookup sites generally provide the most basic of information such as name and it works only for landlines. To get further information, money will have to be paid. The free searches do not provide much more than what can be found through the phone book.
This service is great, I used it a lot f time with great results: I always obtained what I was searching for.
I definitely reccomend this service.

Answer 5

Depends on the building you are in or the area (like outside parliament), the police can either use the Police powers act or the Anti terrorism act to go through your mobile, very often a mobile is used in bombings, so if they suspected you for something, they can pretty much do what they like, also they can say that they believe the phone was used in a crime and confiscate it. There are lots of reasons why they can do it, had mine checked out at Parliament last time i was there, doesnt bother me Ive got nothing to hide! Id rather have them go through my stuff and have tight security then in be slack and a simple thing missed which could possibly result in BRITISH injuries or death!

If you do feel you have been harrassed etc then you can make an official complaint which IS taken very serious!

Answer 6

The Police can certainly take your phone from you and look through records. They actually don't even need the phone, they can just contact the network and the network will give them all the information of calls and texts whether or not ou have deleted them.
As it is your company, check your contract. If it states in your contract that they can and you signed it then you have given them permission. Some companies, especially government agencies that deal with highly confidential material, will have these policies in force and they will form part of your terms and conditions of employment.

Answer 7

I know that Police and other agencies have this power including customs and excise. Not sure about employers if you are a civil servant in government. I would imagine it would depend on the government agency, military or something close to national security then I'm assuming yes and your contract probably states you could be liable to searches of you and your property.

Easy option, leave the phone at home or in your car while you work.

Answer 8

Yes if this is a government building, and the rules are set, yes they can, you are allowing them permission to do this by bringing the cell phone onto thier property.

Try going into a real secure location, they may take the phone and just not give it back, since you would be warned not to bring one.

They are being sure you are not coping any files and taking them out on the cell phone. Actually fairly standard in high security areas both public and private.

Answer 9

Legal? Maybe. Check with your personnel department and see if you signed a waiver when you were employed there. You could have signed that right/privelidge away. If you signed anything that said your employer may search you or any contents of any packages or bags, pockets, etc. you may have a short row to hoe. If there is a rule against having cellular phones at work, LEAVE THE THING IN YOUR CAR!

Answer 10

It depends on the government agency. I believe it is legal if you work for, say the department of defense or something of that nature. It also could depend on what you agreed to when you were hired. You really didn't give enough information for us to answer.

With today's technology and with camera phones and such I can see where a government agency would not cell phones in the work place.