Smartphones ‘remotely wiped’ in police custody, as encryption vs. law enforcement heats up

Summary: British police are warning that smartphones in custody for forensics and ongoing investigations are being remotely wiped, potentially killing vital evidence.

British police forces have complained that as many as six smartphones seized have been remotely wiped in the past year, potentially killing vital evidence as part of ongoing investigations.

The somewhat comical angle from the BBC News on Thursday was thatCambridgeshire, Derbyshire, Nottingham, and Durham police "don't know how people wiped them."

Here's a hint, police: "Find my iPhone."

The issue stems around the technology that allows users to remotely wipe their device, and potentially corporate secrets and personal information, in cases where their devices have been lost or stolen.

Most modern phones come with this technology: Apple iPhones, Android and Windows Phone devices all do. In many cases, like with BlackBerry handsets, company IT administrators can also remotely wipe data.

But this poses a problem for the British bobbies. The report said, citing one forensics expert, "If a device has a signal, in theory it is possible to wipe it remotely."

Police often use radio-frequency shieldedbags, or even microwave ovens (so long as they're never turned on) to prevent cell service from getting through.However, in some cases, even that short period of time after a device has been seized can be enough to send through a remotely-activated data kill switch.

Law enforcement in the U.S. over the past few weeks have complained at Apple and Google's move to encrypt data on their devices by default, forcing police and federal agents to go to the device owner, rather than to the company themselves.

Many U.S. federal agencies, including the FBI and the NSA, complained that Apple and Google's encryption efforts will hamper investigations.Drug dealers, pedophiles, identity thieves, and other violent criminals will be able to evade capture, they say, with the FBI DirectorJames Comey criticizing Apple for allowing its customers to "place themselves beyond the law."

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Smartphones 'remotely wiped' in police custody, as encryption vs. law enforcement heats up