We review products independently, but we may earn affiliate commissions from buying links on this page. Terms of use. Police in the United Kingdom are spending thousands on software that will let them break into locked iPhones. According to financial documents, first reported on by Wired, Lancashire, Derbyshire, and Nottinghamshire police forces purchased licences for systems developed by US-based firm Grayshift. This is the first time that UK authorities have bought the US company’s technology, which has been selling its software to US officials and has been fighting against Apple’s lockdown of the lightning port. Grayshift sells a small box, called GrayKey, which plugs into the lightning port on an iPhone and unlocks it, exploiting vulnerabilities in the iOS operating system that means (reportedly) it can break in. Once the phone has been unlocked, police will have access to messages, social media platforms (if they were logged in), photos, and activity logs. Financial documents from Nottinghamshire police show that it spent £11,000 on a Graykey license, apparently to "reduce the need to send phones to Leicestershire for unlocking." Derbyshire police have spent £11,477.54 on software from the company, while Lancashire Police purchased software through a third-party supplier called Micro Systemation Limited; it paid £46,200 to use the system over four years. Forbes says that there are two tiers of payment model for the software: one for $15,000 (approximately £11,513) that can unlock 300 iPhones as long as there is constant online connectivity , and one for $30,000 (approximately £23,026) that can be used offline indefinitely. In statements to Wired, Derbyshire Constabulary said that "it is part of a suite of tools used to complete criminal investigations," but did not give more details on how the technology is being used, citing "operational reasons." According to Privacy International 26 out of 47 police forces are using mobile phone extraction technology, while a further eight police forces have trialled or intend to trial it. The organisation recommends an independent review into this “widespread, intrusive but secretive practice” and that there should be a requirement for police to obtain a warrant to search a mobile phone.
Wir nutzen Cookies auf unserer Website. Einige von ihnen sind essenziell für den Betrieb der Seite, während andere uns helfen, diese Website und die Nutzererfahrung zu verbessern (Tracking Cookies). Sie können selbst entscheiden, ob Sie die Cookies zulassen möchten. Bitte beachten Sie, dass bei einer Ablehnung womöglich nicht mehr alle Funktionalitäten der Seite zur Verfügung stehen.
We review products independently, but we may earn affiliate commissions from buying links on this page. Terms of use. Police in the United Kingdom are spending thousands on software that will let them break into locked iPhones. According to financial documents, first reported on by Wired, Lancashire, Derbyshire, and Nottinghamshire police forces purchased licences for systems developed by US-based firm Grayshift. This is the first time that UK authorities have bought the US company’s technology, which has been selling its software to US officials and has been fighting against Apple’s lockdown of the lightning port. Grayshift sells a small box, called GrayKey, which plugs into the lightning port on an iPhone and unlocks it, exploiting vulnerabilities in the iOS operating system that means (reportedly) it can break in. Once the phone has been unlocked, police will have access to messages, social media platforms (if they were logged in), photos, and activity logs. Financial documents from Nottinghamshire police show that it spent £11,000 on a Graykey license, apparently to "reduce the need to send phones to Leicestershire for unlocking." Derbyshire police have spent £11,477.54 on software from the company, while Lancashire Police purchased software through a third-party supplier called Micro Systemation Limited; it paid £46,200 to use the system over four years. Forbes says that there are two tiers of payment model for the software: one for $15,000 (approximately £11,513) that can unlock 300 iPhones as long as there is constant online connectivity , and one for $30,000 (approximately £23,026) that can be used offline indefinitely. In statements to Wired, Derbyshire Constabulary said that "it is part of a suite of tools used to complete criminal investigations," but did not give more details on how the technology is being used, citing "operational reasons." According to Privacy International 26 out of 47 police forces are using mobile phone extraction technology, while a further eight police forces have trialled or intend to trial it. The organisation recommends an independent review into this “widespread, intrusive but secretive practice” and that there should be a requirement for police to obtain a warrant to search a mobile phone.