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Cellebrite Is Developing Roadside Police 'Textalyzer' Device (arstechnica.com)
An anonymous reader writes: Cellebrite, the company many believe helped the FBI crack into the iPhone 5c belonging to a San Bernardino terrorist, is developing a roadside "textalyzer" device to help law enforcement determine whether someone involved in a motor vehicle accident was unlawfully driving while distracted. As reported from Ars Technica: "Under the first-of-its-kind legislation proposed in New York, drivers involved in accidents would have to submit their phone to roadside testing from a textalyzer to determine whether the driver was using a mobile phone ahead of a crash." The textalyzer allegedly would keep conversations, contacts, numbers, photos, and application data private in an effort to get around the Fourth Amendment right to privacy. "Cellebrite has been leading the adoption of field mobile forensics solutions by law enforcement for years, culminating in the formal introduction of our UFED FIELD series product line a year ago," Jim Grady, Cellebrite's CEO, said in a statement. "We look forward to supporting DORCs and law enforcement -- both in New York and nationally to curb distracted driving."
Crazy, many new cars let you send and receive via voice now. Hell, even can listen and send without you picking them up.
Sounds like a good excuse to copy peoples phones, pull someone over for "texting while driving" and scan their phone... No warrant needed.
I personally can think of an easy way of avoiding this completely:
If you see red and blue lights, put your phone in airplane mode, throw it under the seat, and deny you even have one. Same if you're involved in a collision. If the cop asks to search your car, tell him that his rights to search your car are about as good as your rights to give him a cavity search.
This would be a brain dead law to enact, designed to only enrich Cellebrite. There are many ways there could be recent texts on your phone that would be completely legal under current US law in all 50 states. For example, a friend could be using your phone while you drive to text and respond to texts directed to you, or you could be using voice texting. Either the legislators are not very technically savvy, or in Cellebrite's pocket.
Does your phone have to be visible to the officer, or can they now search your car without a warrant to see if you've hidden a phone in it?
If I can be modded down for being a troll, can I be modded up for being an orc, or a balrog?
Tell that to the third parties companies that sell the red-light cameras. There's been numerous instances of the red-light cameras issuing false citations, and those companies pressuring localities to reduce the amount of time a yellow light is shown, in order to get more revenue at the expense of safety.