April 07, 2021
Policing

Amicus Brief in Pennsylvania v. Green

Logan Koepke, Tinuola Dada, and Emma Weil

Amicus brief

We filed a legal brief in the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania describing the capabilities of mobile device forensics tools (MDFTs) and how they facilitatate invasive searches of cellphones. Search warrants, like the one in this case, often fail to limit the scope of a search at all. However, we argue that narrower searches are possible, and that courts must create new legal safeguards to avoid allowing general digital searches. We also advocate for audit logs in MDFT software, which would allow judges and defense lawyers to inspect the steps a forensic examiner took and to challenge the execution of a search.