| Comment | > Which reads to me like the officer said they could seize OP's phone, but then backtracked, and positioned it as them doing OP a favour, like we won't seize your phone if you let me delete the video.
Probably. But they do have that power under the prevention of terrorism act iirc. And I'm not sure what the recent Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill has added. It wasn't that long ago (I think in 2014?) that the police were trialing security booths that allowed them to completely download all information from a phone and consent wasn't required.
Even that's not a hard requirement when you get access to 99% of the information of someone through knowing the sim and going through their service provider instead.
My impression is that the UK has always been rather authoritarian in this regard when it comes to digital rights and, even in Scotland, we have the added bonus that they're given additional powers over recording when you're on council managed property as opposed to public property. So the idea that the officer may be completely in the wrong? I honestly don't know anymore, it's been many years since I've allowed myself to fall down a rabbit hole like that. |
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