If you’re planning on taking an international holiday in the U.K. in order to be there for the very moment when Kate Middleton and Prince William become proud parents, you might want to make sure you phone is clean of anything that could be considered a threat as a new report claims the U.K. Border Police are able to seize your device and download all of your data.
The procedure the U.K. Border Police is being applied under their domestic anti-terror law which can be applied to anyone and everyone, regardless if you’re found to be someone of suspicion beforehand. Officers can remove the mobile phone from any passenger they like coming into the U.K. through air, sea and even through international rail ports. Once they have confiscated your mobile device, the Border Police can then retain the information they retrieve for “as long as is necessary.”
The data the Border Police can retrieve covers a broad range of data which includes your device’s call history, contacts, photos, as well as see who you’re sending or receiving texts and emails to, but doesn’t cover their actual content. So keep that in mind if you have some crazy texting or emailing going on to name that contact as someone with a name that wouldn’t pose a threat, like Barney the Dinosaur.