Police powers|According to a recent decision of the EU Court, the police should not decide on their own whether to examine mobile phones, as they do in Finland.
The summary is made by artificial intelligence and checked by a human.
The police are examining the contents of more and more people’s devices in connection with criminal investigations.
Last year, an average of 25 device searches were performed per day, a total of approximately 9,400 searches.
The EU court issued a decision that may force Finland to change its device tracing practices.
According to the decision, the police must apply for permission from the court or another independent body.
Police examines the contents of more people’s mobile phones, computers and other devices every year in connection with criminal investigations. Last year, the authorities already conducted an average of 25 device searches per day.
In less than ten years, the number has more than doubled.
“The threshold for performing a device search in Finland has been insanely low,” says a well-known lawyer and University of Helsinki’s working life professor of advocacy law Mark Fredman.
In device searches, the authorities see messages, pictures, videos, Internet browsing history and other content of crime suspects. Today’s smartphones can contain significantly more information about the user than the mobile phones of yesteryear.
The data can be very private and sensitive for the owner of the device. The conditions for the device search were decided in Finland in 2011, when mobile phone technology was not as developed as it is today.
In the future, the police may not be able to access device data as easily as before.
Last Friday, the Court of Justice of the European Union issued a decision that may force Finland to change its practices.
Mark Fredman
According to lawyer Fredman, the recent decision of the EU Court means that Finland’s current practice regarding the examination of mobile phones is against EU law.
Police can, based on the current legislation in Finland, carry out a device search when the harshest possible punishment for the crime under investigation is at least half a year in prison.
The limit is so low that the authorities can practically examine the contents of the devices in connection with investigations of almost all crimes. For example, vandalism, which is investigated as an act of damage, can be a justification.
According to the police, the evidence available through the device search can be of great importance to the success of preliminary examinations.
“Device searches are carried out well in the investigation of various types of crimes, but especially in the investigation of more serious crimes,” says the police inspector of the National Police Board Kimmo Ulkuniemi.
Last year, a particularly large number of device searches were carried out in the investigation of violent, sexual and drug crimes.
Last year, the authorities carried out about 9,400 device searches. More than 90 percent was done by the police, the rest by the Border Guard or Customs.
At Austria’s request, the European Court of Justice issued a decision last week that outlined the conditions for examining mobile phone content. All member states must follow the guidelines of the court.
What is particularly significant about the decision is that, according to it, the police must apply for permission in advance from a court or other independent administrative body in order to examine the contents of a mobile phone. This can only be deviated from in urgent situations.
According to the EU Court, a fair balance between the needs of the criminal investigation and the basic rights of the target person should be ensured in the prior supervision performed by the court or another entity.
According to the court, access to the data contained in the mobile phone can enable very precise conclusions about the private life of the person in question.
in Finland such advance permission from the court or other party is not currently required for device searches.
According to Finnish legislation, the decision to conduct a device search can be made by an official entitled to arrest, such as a inspector. In an urgent case, the decision can be made by any police officer.
The situation differs from, for example, wiretapping and surveillance. In order for the police to be able to secretly listen to the phone of a criminal suspect or monitor the communication, it requires a prior permission from the court.
The Ministry of Justice and the Police Board are currently evaluating how the EU Court’s decision will possibly affect Finland.
Special expert of the Ministry Joni Korpinen preliminarily estimates that the court’s decision may change the practices of the Finnish authorities in device searches.
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