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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."
Or, I could RTFA. "Further analysis, which might require a warrant, could be necessary to determine whether such usage was via hands-free dashboard technology and to confirm the original finding."
So you'd potentially be declared guilty of driving whilst distracted until a warrant was obtained to determine that you were using hands-free?
One would think that since they're already in the device that such a thing could easily be determined.
Nobody expects The Spanish Inquisition!
sounds legit...
-------
1. Enjoy your job
2. Make lots of money
3. Work within the law
Choose any two.
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.
I suspect they'll do what they do where I live, and set the fines at a level that makes it cheaper to pay the fines than to plead not guilty. As an aside, my sister has never paid a traffic ticket in her life, as she has time on her hands. She pleads not guilty, and by the time the police realize they were supposed to turn up in court, she has been let off through a lack of evidence.
I wonder... if they textalyze your phone and don't find what they want to see, whether they have to wear condoms as they fuck the shit out of your car looking for the "real" phone?
Or is this just a legally neutered horse shit law? Or something more sinister, like an excuse to read everybody's text history? "We don't keep it. Honest!"
All this police state nonsense is hilarious and all, and this should not be construed as a threat: if I were the cops, I would not want to be on the wrong side of the People - or the family of those who were - when the music stops and everybody's looking for chairs. Just a thought.
And when the cop who saw the phone in your hands pulls out his dashcam that shows the same thing?
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?
Go ahead PROVE I had my phone with me, without a fucking warrant you cant check my car, so let's start the game.
Cellbrite, helping pigs be fucking gestapo thugs since 2008.
That's the rub - first off, you need to power down your phone before police inspect. 2nd off, if they ask, just say it wasn't with you. Then they can ask to unlock it and you say you forgot your password (protected under 5th amendment). If it's an iPhone5S or later (or Android equivalent in security terms), the police just hit a brick wall in their investigation.
This proposed law is unconstitutional (seems like most egregious legislation falls under this ... of course)
Make sure everyone's vote counts: Verified Voting
This is the problem with the whole discussion. Law enforcement should not have access to the contents of your phone without a warrant. The focus on encryption it makes the emphasis on this discussion whether or not law enforcement should be able to crack your phone instead of what business they have examining your phone without a warrant in the first place.
Would you let someone search your house without a warrant, even if they had a key? Why should your phone, which is your property, also be subject to illegal unreasonable search? Why should the data products that your phone produce that are not contained on the phone be subject to ongoing monitoring without a warrant?
Record the phone number, get a warrant and ask the telecommunications companies for the *times* of your text messages and phone calls that day. No phone access required.
My ism, it's full of beliefs.
Comment removed based on user account deletion
I have a simpler method: if your car is moving don't touch or look at your phone. If you're expecting something urgent then pull over safely before you do either.
If God forks the Universe every time you roll a die, he'd better have a damned good memory.
But there is no implied consent for submitting your phone.
That's what buying your local legislator is for, sonny. From the actual text of the proposed New York bill:
2. Any person who operates a motor vehicle in this state shall be ...
deemed to have given consent to a portable electronic device field test
for the purpose of determining portable electronic device usage when
involved in an accident while operating a motor vehicle including phone
activity for the period of time immediately preceding the accident
[ALL CAPS removed to get around /.'s loudness filter]
Breakfast served all day!
The joke is on them! in 4 out of the last 5 accident I was involved in I was not texting, I was reading slashdot!
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In other words, it's a magic probable cause generator.
Perhaps at one time before law enforcement in this country proved how much it was willing to lie cheat and steal, even in a court of law under oath, this might be a really good thing. These days, I don't trust them not to rig the device to retain data beyond what's permitted and I don't trust them not to rig it to be a probable cause generator. I'm not even sure I trust them not to use it to implant incriminating evidence in the phone, or a virus.
someone important to you
While I agree with the sentiment of your post by saying this you're as much a douche-bag as he is.
GAH! I can't decide weather this rates as "funny", "troll" or "insightful". Something is seriously f'ed up somewhere, and I'm not certain it's me.
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.
LoL,
If you see Red and Blue, its too late. You wont have time to put the phone in aeroplane mode, you definitely wont be able to do it without the officers noticing.
No you cant, dont argue with me, you are not as clever as you think you are.
The reason idiots get caught on their phone is because they get so distracted by it that they become completely oblivious to anything around them. Green lights, concrete bollards, other vehicles and the cop walking up right next to them. Also all your "clever" tricks are also dead givaways, no-one sits in the car and stares intently at their crotch for 5 minutes unless they've got a phone down there.
I can think of a much easier solution, put the fucking phone away whilst you're driving. If this is too onerous or you think you're good enough that it doesn't apply to you (clue by four: you are not), start taking the bus.
Calling someone a "hater" only means you can not rationally rebut their argument.
That was a factor in 2012 accident Inwas in. The insrance company subpoena cellphone records and the result was obvious.
> The reason why the whole "already in the device" idea doesn't quite cut it is that the Cellebrite solution doesn't actually show the content in question. The second step of the test is partially tied to the content on the device in a way that *probably* falls within Fourth Amendment protections and concerns. So Cellebrite is taking the high road and playing it safe. Good for them.
More like the high road to covering their own ass.
According to my reading of the summary they suck all the data off your device, any private data they can steal, then its theirs, sure they may not "show" it, but they already have it and can abuse it offline at their liesure....away from your prying eyes.
I see no high road at all here, looks to me like they are finding every exploit they can to cover up expanding access to private data far beyond what they need for the job.
"I opened my eyes, and everything went dark again"
They'll steal your car and money and not give it back even if you aren't charged with anything, so yes, you will be presumed guilty, as in ALL traffic tickets where you have to go to court to get it overturned...
This is terrible advice. I'm not a lawyer, but I'm pretty sure that destroying evidence of a crime is way more serious than a motor vehicle accident. Second, they can subpoena records from your mobile phone company. Better advice is don't text and drive.
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.
former cop here. just...no. cops always need a warrant to search your person or seize your property, and probable cause if they are going to detain you. your busted licence plate light is all they need for the latter; you gave them the former via "implied consent" when you signed for your driver's license. Most civilians don't understand that a traffic stop is an arrest, and thus all the civil protections afforded citizens in the Constitution apply, meaning the cops have to follow the rules. Incidentally, that is probably why there is so much push back from cops about being recorded -- they aren't used to having to follow the rules. Some jerk's iphone record of their failure to do so imperils their career. Next time a cop pulls you over, ask him point blank: Am I being detained? If the first word out of his mouth is anything other than "Yes" drive away. A smart cop is going to smile ruefully and wait for a less savvy citizen to meet his roadside revenue quota. A dumb cop is going to call for back up and get his ass handed to him by his desk sergeant, the chief of police, the city prosecutor, and the judge at your trial (in the extremely unlikely event it gets that far) if he tries to detain you again.
Sorry for the discursion. To bring this back on point, while existing implied consent laws can be easily adapted to include any electronic devices discovered in the course of your traffic stop, that is not the real issue here. People really need to understand that you are "under arrest" even when you are just being given a traffic ticket, and that you haven't surrendered your civil rights just because some cop thought you were an easy mark for a little quasi-legal extortion. You are protected by a robust set of principles enshrined in the Constitution, and you can rely on their protection when confronted by a cop who just wants to make his quota for the month and engage in a little data mining of your phone while he's at it.
So, I assume you never change the radio station while moving. Or take a drink of coffee/soda. Or speak to someone in the back seat.
Driving distracted is a fact of life on the road. If you can't drive safely while glancing at a phone, you can't drive safely while changing the AC controls either.
Personally, I'm fine with taking all distractions out of cars, literally. Just leave the steering wheel, pedals, and controls for lights, blinkers, and wipers. Remove everything else, so idiots like you will shut the hell up about "distracted driving", as if it was just invented at the same time as smartphones.
If you think I voted for Trump because of this post, you're wrong. I voted for Dr. Jill Stein of the Green Party. Again.