Your Police and Crime Commissioner John Campion has welcomed new powers which came into force on Tuesday 8 November to strengthen laws around extracting information from electronic devices.
“So much more of our lives are being lived online, the ability to extract information from devices of victims and witnesses can be a crucial factor in bringing offenders to justice.
“Extracting information from electronic devices has the potential to be a serious violation of privacy. Speaking to victims of sexual violence they have regularly told me that the process of having information extracted from their device, which usually takes weeks or months, is traumatising. This sadly leads some victims to be unwilling to proceed with police investigations.
“These new powers ensure victims and witnesses are put first and they can be confident they will be treated with sensitivity and dignity when reporting crimes and that their rights to privacy are protected. There will now be a consistent approach when requesting information from phones and other electronic devices, and that in all cases, requests to extract information held on an electronic device are only made when necessary and proportionate.”