[rkalla]

Absolutely right, I should have clarified that I was speaking from a "first-cut" perspective.

Out of the gate, say tomorrow, when this law starts getting leveraged against folks I was saying that getting your phone searched specifically because you were talking or texting on it and an officer caught you were likely two different things (there are already "don't use while driving" laws in CA I think).

But like you said, weeks-months-years down the road, there could be some very creative (read: awful) applications of this; just like we saw with wire taping and the "national security" catch all after 9/11.

[tptacek]

From what I can tell, there's nothing remotely "clever" at play here. The search context we're talking about is many decades old. The arrest that instigated it was not subtle; any of (i) reckless driving, (ii) driving without a license, or (iii) DUI can get you searched "for reals". In a "for reals" search, your phone is not off limits, never has been, full stop.

If you want to force the situation into a grey area, use a strongly encrypted passphrase protected phone, like an iPhone. You'll have a lot more room to maneuver in the case where someone tries to compel you to divulge your passphrase. That's not what happened here.