NYPD May Track Your Phone If You’re Arrested For…Any Reason

The folks at the NYPD are so sweet! No matter what you’re arrested for, they’re nice enough to remove your mobile phone’s battery “to avoid leakage” and jot down your IMEI number. They’ll even add it to a database.

According to the NY Daily News, a recent internal memo instructed NYPD officers to commit such acts of battery-removing, IMEI-jotting kindness. The idea behind it is to assemble a database which would allow them to match phones used by a suspect to past, present and future crimes. It’s almost romantic how you’ll gain a lifelong relationship with the NYPD through this process, but like many other newfangled relationships, this one is being called into question. Some are arguing that it circumvents warrant requirements and infringes on the rights of a suspect. I argue that I won’t carry a mobile phone if I go on a crime spree in New York. [NY Daily News]

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