Project 2: Law Enforcement Access to Smart Phone Data

Cases:

1. United States v. Keck https://casetext.com/case/united-states-v-keck-2
2. Riley v. California https://casetext.com/case/riley-v-cal-united-states-1

Issues:

1. Under what conditions or circumstances are law enforcement officers allowed to search an individual's personal devices?
2. Under what conditions are law enforcement agencies allowed to remotely access an individual's personal devices?

Research Questions:

1. Does the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution provide protection against searches of an individual's personal devices, e.g. smart phones or tablets?
2. Do legal precedents allowing warrantless physical searches of smart phones extend to allowing the use of forensic technologies to obtain local and/or remote access to data stored on the device?
3. What technologies are available to law enforcement agencies for use in conducting local and/or remote search and recovery of data from personal devices such as smart phones, tablet computers, etc.?

Approach:

1. Your research must include articles in professional journals and/or other types of scholarly publications (e.g. dissertations or theses) from the UMGC library in addition to information from vendor websites and reputable news outlets.
2. Research the two cases listed in this assignment as well as similar cases in the United States at both the state and federal levels. Your research should include locating information relevant to answering the legal question and issues listed above.
3. Research technologies used to bypass restrictions on access to user data stored on smart phones (see https://www.lawfareblog.com/law-enforcement-accessing-locked-devices-quite-well-thank-you ). Include both local (physical) access and remote access (e.g. via spyware).
4. Research mobile forensics products including those which are restricted to authorized parties such as law enforcement organizations. See https://www.wired.com/story/smartphone-encryption-law-enforcement-tools/ Identify three or more appropriate products, their capabilities, and any restrictions on purchase or use imposed by the vendor or by laws.
5. Using your research, answer the three research questions including information about the availability and use of technology solutions and mobile forensics products to augment law enforcement searches of personal devices.

Write:

Using your research, About 6 page analysis of the legal and technological issues listed in this assignment including providing answers to the three research questions (citing sources for the information you provide in your answers). Your research paper must include the following:

1. An Introduction section that provides an overview of the issues and research questions listed at the beginning of this assignment.
2. An Analysis section in which you address the following:
   1. Why are the stated issues important? (Include examples)
   2. Why are the research questions important? (Include examples of both technical issues and legal principles in your analysis of the questions).
   3. Your research-based analysis which provides answers to the research questions (including citations to sources which support your answers).
3. A summary section in which you summarize your analysis and your answers to the research questions.