‘They typically do what’s called a phone dump’: Expert reveals what police can see when they seize your iPhone—and how

Deleting evidence from your phone is not enough to keep police from accessing it, according to criminal defense attorney Claire Highland.

Highland recently uploaded a TikTok in which she breaks down what police can see on someone’s phone. The video has more than 12,000 views.

“When law enforcement goes through your phone, they typically do what is called a phone dump, which means they are able to plug your phone in, clone it, and they are able to see not only things that are currently in there, but also things that have been deleted, or you thought were deleted,” Highland says.

Law enforcement can access anything from before or after the date of alleged criminal activity, Highland clarified in the comments.

What programs does law enforcement use to search phones?

Police use mobile device forensic tools (MDFTs) to extract and organize information, as well as get around most security features. This is according to a 2020 Upturn study on U.S. law enforcement’s ability to search phones. Upturn is an equity and justice nonprofit.

According to this study, more than 2,000 U.S. law enforcement agencies have access to MDFTs. The largest 50 police departments have access to MDFTs, as well as dozens of district attorneys’ and sheriff’s offices.

In Highland’s TikTok, she says she also has access to the software results as a lawyer.

“I know this because when this happens to my clients, they are required to share this information with me as well as part of discovery,” Highland says.

How are police able to retrieve your phone in the first place?

The Fourth Amendment protects U.S. citizens against unreasonable searches at the hand of government officials.

Also, in the 2014 case of Riley v. California, the Supreme Court ruled police must have a warrant to go through your phone. However, you can give them permission to look through your phone without a warrant.

Highland says it makes sense for people to grant access without a warrant in certain cases.

Does Apple unlock phones for the police?

No, and the lack of "backdoors" has been a contentious issues for the better part of a decade. New FBI lawsuits put the future of this at a crossroads, Forbes reports.

What about iPhones with the latest iOS?

iPhones seized by law enforcement have been rebooting themselves in police custody. It turned out that in November 2024, iOS 18.1 added code that triggered locked iPhones to reboot themselves after a prolonged period of being locked, according to 404 Media.

When does it make sense to give police access to your phone without a warrant?

Highland posted a TikTok on Nov. 27. In the video, she says the sooner a client gives police access to their phone, the quicker they get it back. The video has over 26,000 views.

However, Highland says people often hesitate giving police access to their phones.

“If you ask most people what's in their phones, I mean, God only knows, right? People will start questioning, ‘Did I ever do something I didn't know was illegal and talk about it? Or maybe I knew I did something illegal and I was talking about it,’” she says. “Or maybe they're just doing something weird, like cheating on their spouse or watching weird [content], and they don't want the police to see that.”

The fifth amendment gives people the right against self incrimination, too. 

“You don't have to give up anything that could be used against you,” Highland says. 

However, warrants may be unavoidable at a certain point, she says, so it can be helpful to show a willingness to cooperate. 

“Say, for example, you're arrested for a felony armed robbery that you are totally innocent of, but at the time you are accused of doing that, you are actually at a party underage drinking and using substances legally with your friends, and in your phone you have pictures and videos of you at that party, and you were texting about it as well,” Highland says. “The benefits of being cleared on the armed robbery case are probably worth the risk of them finding out about a minor in possession that they may never even decide to charge because that's not really what they're concerned with in this investigation. So that may be a situation where we decide that we are going to cooperate with them because it benefits you.”

Do police always conduct a phone dump using MDFTs?

“I had a client who, before they hired me, spoke to law enforcement,” Highland says in her viral TikTok. “Luckily, they were innocent, but they agreed to let law enforcement take a look at their phone. The officer took a look, opened a few things, scrolled, and handed it right back to them. That, of course, is because there was nothing in there.”

So police do not always go through deleted photos, messages or recordings, but they can.

@criminaldefenseclaire Replying to @Cisco #criminaldefenselawyer #criminaldefenseattorney #criminaldefense #lawyersoftiktok #lawtok #criminallaw #defenseattorney ♬ original sound - criminal defense claire

“Never let law enforcement do anything with your phone without a lawyer,” a commenter advised.

The Daily Dot reached out to Highland for an interview, but she did not immediately respond.

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