| In theory, there's a world of difference between the two. * Pockets may contain items that are dangerous to an arresting officer, or to other arrestees. Emptying pockets serves the purpose of removing that danger. Data stored on a phone are not dangerous to nearby people, and so there is no corresponding danger that needs to be removed. * Pockets can be verified to be empty, and so it can be verified that the person has complied with the order. There is no way to verify that all information accessible from a computer has been revealed. A police officer can demand that a suspect produce passwords that they don't have, then use the "noncompliance" as a way to add additional charges. * Emptied pockets can be returned to their original state. If my pockets contain a driver's license, $5 and lip balm, those items can be returned to me. If I reveal a password, the reveal of that password cannot be undone, and that account must be assumed to be compromised. * (For the US only) I have the enumerated right for my papers and effects to be secure against unreasonable search and seizure. A full investigation of accounts to which I have access, done at the site of an arrest, by untrained officers, with no checks for data security, no limits on the breadth of the search, with no basis of reducing external harm, and no right to contest the disclosure until after it has occurred, is entirely unreasonable. I agree with your conclusions, that information security is important and should be more widely practiced. I disagree strongly with how you reached that conclusion, as a physical search of pockets is entirely unlike a search of one's phone or connected devices. |