Disparate court rulings have now increased the risk of enterprise information disclosure on mobile devices. The end result  of this case is that there are now split decisions in case law regarding the loss of privacy rights for an individual who is arrested. Unfortunately, with the prevalence of smart phones with corporate and organizational data on them, it has increased the risks for our clients. Until the Supreme Court makes a final ruling, it is recommended that all enterprises do what they should already have done… add a password to their mobile device policy. Additionally, the password, when possible, should be a passphrase as there are examples where passphrases have been protected by free speech.

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The California Supreme Court allowed police Monday to search arrestees’ cell phones without a warrant, saying defendants lose their privacy rights for any items they’re carrying when taken into custody.

Under U.S. Supreme Court precedents, “this loss of privacy allows police not only to seize anything of importance they find on the arrestee’s body … but also to open and examine what they find,” the state court said in a 5-2 ruling.

Read more from the news article at SFGate.com