The Metropolitan Police, the police force responsible for Greater London, has announced that it will begin using a mobile device data extraction system that will give its officers the ability to extract data from a mobile device in a matter of minutes. The said system will use Radio Tactics’ ACESO Kiosk, a touchscreen device that will be deployed in the city. According to Radio Tactics, the ACESO Kiosk has the capability to extract data including call history, photos, videos, and email and social networking info from a phone at an average time of 20 minutes.
Essentially, the device features an intuitive, fully-guided touchscreen desktop data acquisition tool. Radio Tactics promises the device to pull data from the any mobile phone as well as from any memory or SIM card it carries. The company claims that it also works with USB flash drives and portable GPS units too. The system will be used on phones that are suspected of having been used in criminal activities. According to Computerworld UK, more than 300 Police employees will be trained to use the device.
“When a suspect is arrested and found with a mobile phone that we suspect may have been used in crime, traditionally we submit it to our digital forensic laboratory for analysis,” Stephen Kavanagh of the Metropolitan Police said. He added that the new system located within the boroughs themselves will enable “trained officers to examine devices and gives immediate access to the data in that handset”. Albeit some might find the system to be too intrusive, the MPS is assuring that has rigorous procedures in place to protect the security of information.