Cops can search mobile phones—only if they’re not password-protected

In Canada, a provincial court of appeals has formulated a rule that police is allowed to search the smartphone of an accused only if the phone is not password protected. However, for this, the police must get a search warrant.
A robbery incident in Canada gives a good example of the said rule made by the court. Read on to find out more.

The robbery took place in Toronto’s Downsview neighbourhood where two men robbed a women and get away with jewelry worth thousands of dollars.

The police arrested Junior Chapman and Kevin Fearon for robbing the woman. Sgt. Steve Hicks get access to photos and text messages stored on the robbers’ mobile phones. On the phone, Sgt. Steve found a photo of the gun the robber used to frighten the woman and a message related to the robbery.
Fearon’s lawyer said that the Toronto Police abuse their power while retrieving photos and text messages from Fearon’s cell phone. He said that the police should have obtained a search warrant prior to examining the cell phone of the accused.
The jury rejected the argument saying that the officers used their power in limits and did not misuse the contents on the smartphone.