Last update - 00:00 18/03/2007
Police will need warrant to search cell phones for evidence
By Yuval Yoaz, Haaretz Correspondent
Police will no longer be allowed to immediately search the cell phones of suspects under questioning, but will have to ask a court for a warrant as is required for searching computers, according to a recent ruling by the Jerusalem District Court.
In making the decision, Judge Hana Ben-Ami said 'there is a great deal of similarity from the point of view of the rationale behind the special law governing computers, between the computer and the cell phone in terms of the information stored and the way they operate.'
The state prosecutor's office and the police have begun preparing for the new regime.
In the case of a computer, a judge must sign a warrant, and the investigator who conducts the search must be a skilled computer operator. Current procedures, in which a detective takes a suspect's cell phone and reads text messages and lists of phone numbers, will have to change.
The ruling was made in the case now before the court of Eli and Yehuda Arish and other suspects who have been charged with conspiracy and the trafficking and transport of weapons. In January, the prosecution sought to place in evidence a memo written by investigators after they had browsed through a cell phone belonging to one of the suspects during a search of the suspect's apartment. The memo noted the contents of the text messages on the phone.
The defense team opposed the use of this evidence, arguing that it was obtained as part of an illegal search because searching a cell phone is tantamount to searching a computer since many cell phones serve as computers.
The prosecution countered by noting that cell phones hold only names and addresses and therefore no search warrant should be necessary. They said no law prohibits the use of information obtained from a cell phone as evidence, nor does this represent a breach of privacy. The prosecution also said a skilled user should not be necessary because the level of skill required is not great. The detective, the prosecution said, browsed through the cell phone without doing it any harm.
Judge Ben-Ami said that while she had not been shown conclusive proof that the cell phone fit the description of a computer, it was similar enough to accede to the defense's request.
Despite the ruling, the court allowed the information obtained in the weapons case to be admitted as evidence because it was obtained with a general search warrant that included computerized materials. She also agreed that a skilled operator was not needed in this case to browse the cell phone.