The functions of smartphones are constantly being reinvented, augmented and refreshed. In addition to their role as a conventional cellphone, apps for personal organizers, Internet browsers, GPS navigation, online gaming, instant messaging, e-payments, digital photography and audio recording are just some of the capabilities crammed into the average smartphone. While these apps make life convenient, they can also be exploited by malign actors.
For example, criminals could use smartphones to obtain illegal information, monitor a person through GPS, encrypt data to hide it from authorities, access online gambling sites, transmit data through instant messaging, or trade narcotics with e-payment services or a cryptocurrency such as bitcoin to evade police detection.
In such cases, obtaining and decrypting access to a suspect’s mobile phone has become essential to solving crimes.
As people become more aware of the importance of data security, smartphone manufacturers have developed novel ways to keep users’ data confidential. This includes the implementation of graphical passwords, biometric authentication such as Apple’s Touch ID fingerprint reader or Face ID facial recognition, dual-boot operating systems, and multi-biometric voice-fingerprint authentication. Research is even under way into using the unique amino acid profiles found in skin secretions and heartbeat patterns as methods of authentication.
However, there has always been a trade-off between protecting confidential information and user convenience, and it is often difficult for manufacturers to strike the perfect balance between the two.
One of the problems of modern crime detection facing law enforcement officers is the way in which criminals quickly adapt their methods to exploit new technology and equipment that is not yet addressed under the law. Digital tools allow criminals to cover their tracks and wipe evidence, and make reverse tracing difficult.
When law enforcement agencies need to unlock a smartphone, they must expend a significant amount of time performing system calculation simulations and analyzing the database structure of a device to break through its encryption. Many cases go unsolved because the password of a suspect’s device could not be obtained in the early stages of an investigation.
Coast guard officials say that their job is made much harder if a suspect smashes their cellphone or drops it into the sea before being arrested, uses a less common instant messaging app, or uses a so-called cryptophone produced by one of several niche foreign manufacturers.
Such devices were discovered as part of operations “Venetic” and “Eternal,” led by the British National Crime Agency and the London Metropolitan Police respectively, when members of organized crime rings used cellphones running an operating system designed to automatically “burn” the device — meaning to wipe its data — after several attempts to unlock it.
In such a situation, if investigators are unable to quickly obtain access to information on seized phones, the investigation hits a serious roadblock.
Another difficultly is that different smartphone brands use different types of encryption, while models are also constantly being updated. This means that law enforcement agencies must expend a considerable amount of resources on password analysis.
For this reason, criminals often arrange to wipe incriminating evidence from their digital devices if there has been no communication with their counterpart after a set time.
If legislators reviewing the draft technology investigations bill have any worries about its content, they should pause to reflect on how they should go about resolving all the investigative difficulties facing law enforcement.
As the system stands, during an investigation that hinges on access to a mobile phone, if there is no way to immediately analyze or extract data from it and the suspect has set up the device to destroy its data or can remotely delete data from it, authorities would hit a major obstacle in pursuing the government’s drug policy of chasing upstream suppliers, and criminals would be able to continue to hide in the shadows.
According to article 205-2 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (刑事訴訟法), investigators can “for the purpose of investigating the circumstances of an offense and collecting evidence” gather fingerprints, handprints, footprints, height data and take pictures of an arrested suspect.
If the targeted device is equipped with facial recognition or fingerprint authentication and one or both of these functions has been enabled, then, based on the wording of the act, it should in theory be possible for law enforcement authorities to request that the suspect cooperate in unlocking the device using their face or fingerprint.
However, the law does not specify this procedure and, as such, it could be deemed illegal by a judge.
These types of dilemmas are common throughout the world. In addition to pulling out all the stops to try to find a technical solution, it is becoming increasingly vital to amend legislation to allow investigators to do their jobs.
On Oct. 1, 2018, the Customs and Excise Act went into effect in New Zealand, permitting customs officials at airports to search the electronic devices of an individual if there are grounds for reasonable suspicion. This includes mobile phones, iPads, Android tablets, hard drives, notebook computers and digital cameras.
The law also gives New Zealand customs officials the power to request that an individual under examination provide limited access to their electronic devices or other assistance, including codes, passwords, encryption key or any other information required to gain access when there are reasonable grounds to do so.
If the person under investigation does not have reasonable grounds to refuse to cooperate, they can be fined up to NZ$5,000 (US$3,343).
Although the law is limited in its scope to border-related crimes, it provides a useful reference for Taiwanese policymakers. Similar powers, could be applied to serious crimes or emergency cases, so that a defendant or suspect is obliged to hand over passwords or provide other assistance to law enforcement officials to access digital devices in their possession.
If the individual in question refuses to cooperate, the law could permit officials to use other means to decrypt mobile phones to obtain important criminal information. Decisionmakers must strike a balance between technology and the rule of law to improve the accuracy of criminal investigations.
Tzeng Chun-chiao is an associate professor in the Taiwan Police College’s Department of Technology Crime Investigation.
Translated by Edward Jones
Weeks into the craze, nobody quite knows what to make of the OpenClaw mania sweeping China, marked by viral photos of retirees lining up for installation events and users gathering in red claw hats. The queues and cosplay inspired by the “raising a lobster” trend make for irresistible China clickbait. However, the West is fixating on the least important part of the story. As a consumer craze, OpenClaw — the AI agent designed to do tasks on a user’s behalf — would likely burn out. Without some developer background, it is too glitchy and technically awkward for true mainstream adoption,
On Monday, the day before Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) departed on her visit to China, the party released a promotional video titled “Only with peace can we ‘lie flat’” to highlight its desire to have peace across the Taiwan Strait. However, its use of the expression “lie flat” (tang ping, 躺平) drew sarcastic comments, with critics saying it sounded as if the party was “bowing down” to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Amid the controversy over the opposition parties blocking proposed defense budgets, Cheng departed for China after receiving an invitation from the CCP, with a meeting with
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) is leading a delegation to China through Sunday. She is expected to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) in Beijing tomorrow. That date coincides with the anniversary of the signing of the Taiwan Relations Act (TRA), which marked a cornerstone of Taiwan-US relations. Staging their meeting on this date makes it clear that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) intends to challenge the US and demonstrate its “authority” over Taiwan. Since the US severed official diplomatic relations with Taiwan in 1979, it has relied on the TRA as a legal basis for all
A delegation of Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) officials led by Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) is to travel to China tomorrow for a six-day visit to Jiangsu, Shanghai and Beijing, which might end with a meeting between Cheng and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平). The trip was announced by Xinhua news agency on Monday last week, which cited China’s Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO) Director Song Tao (宋濤) as saying that Cheng has repeatedly expressed willingness to visit China, and that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Central Committee and Xi have extended an invitation. Although some people have been speculating about a potential Xi-Cheng
RSS