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How to protect yourself if your smartphone decided to remove the Investigative Committee

An innovation appeared in the issuance of administrative offenses for the shares on August 3: people were interviewed as witnesses in the case of riots, excited after the previous campaign on July 27, and as part of the interrogation, mobile phones were removed from the majority. The gadgets attached to the criminal case, regardless of whether the detainees took part in the previous event. The correspondent of Novaya and Talked with those who parted with their property, and also figured out what to do if the next time they want to select the phone from you.

Updated
According to Novaya Gazeta, the part of the detainees on August 3, whose smartphones were seized, at the beginning of the week there were attempts to hack the Telegram service, as well as Gmail accounts from the owners of smartphones based on Android. In addition, one of the phones was not disconnected, and the owner tracked its geolocation: on Tuesday, this iPhone was taken to Lyubertsy.

Konstantin Fokin met with two friends at Turgenevskaya station around 14 hours on Saturday to “take a walk along the boulevards” to Pushkinskaya, where they later dispersed each route. Konstantin himself for a short time remained near the Izvestia building, where he sat down on the sidewalk. “A small crowd gathered around me, since nothing was particularly interesting, everyone just stood, someone even approached with posters, and when the fourth man probably crouched next to us, the employees of the Russian Guard approached us and took us to the car carrier,” he says.

According to him, the Rosgvardists approached behind, "broke their hands and dragged", despite the fact that everyone "sat calmly and almost even spoke." More than 20 people with whom Konstantin found themselves in the Avtosak got into the AVD of Yasenevo. At first, the bus left minors, then the only girl, then a registered candidate for the Moscow City Duma, and then - all the rest. Konstantin was the last, since “I was in no hurry” and refused to immediately give his passport, unlike most of the others.

According to Konstantin, the process of registration was not immediately clear, no one explained anything. As a result, it turned out that there are two parallel interrogations: the group of employees of the Investigative Committee and the police from the police department. It was necessary to participate in both, starting with communication with the UK as a witness in the criminal case of riots on July 27, and only then discussing the event with the staff of the ATS on August 3 and their detention on an administrative offense.

“A separate line was organized for the delivery of mobile phones. When the turn came to me, I asked to explain what was happening at all, and said that I would not participate in this without a lawyer, ”says Fokin. According to him, he and the other detainees immediately turned to the ATS-INFO, they sent him a lawyer, but the police told them that the lawyer arrived and immediately left, and the lawyer reported that no one asked for his help. Konstantin claims that in the end he was the only one who refused to testify without the assistance of a lawyer, whom he himself found on the street, leaving the ATS building, and returned to the interrogation with a lawyer, since he could not leave the police through the checkpoint.

- Then this topic with the phone got up. They say to me: "Are you ready to give a mobile?" I said that I didn’t really want to, the lawyer supported me. SK employees reported that then they would seize it forcibly. They brought two girls as witnesses, a policeman, they say: “Well, that's it, are you ready? We are seized. " I took the phone stronger, but he was pulled out of my hands. Then they drew up a protocol on the seizure and gave me a copy.

Alexander Zheleznikov, managing partner of the Bar of Lawyers “Zheleznikov and Partners”, says that investigators have a wide range of powers in this matter and can withdraw the phone from a witness, including through a recharge protocol, or through a search protocol, but only within the framework of an already initiated criminal case. Operational employees or Rosgvardists, as part of administrative offenses, can inspect the phone exclusively from the outside or under the case. “In addition, it should be noted that there are legal requirements, there are illegal requirements, but there are requests. If, with witnesses and with a protocol, a copy of which has a detainee, then this is a legal requirement, and if the smartphone is simply taken away, and you do not have any papers, then this is nothing more than a “gop-stop,” says Zheleznikov

According to him, by virtue of the “abundance of various quasi -wing actions”, which are undertaken by law enforcement officers during this period, of course, the procedures are ignored, but it is worth trying to comply with the procedural requirements. “You can delete what you want from the smartphone, but I would not recommend it by force,” the lawyer summarizes.

In almost all autozaks, there were provocateurs who told the rest that they gave phones and passwords, and it would be even better.

According to the ATS-Info, 22 detainees were brought to Yasenevo, at least one of them remained to spend the night there. The phones were taken from almost everyone. According to Konstantin Fokin, the time to turn off the smartphone, get out of all applications, remove them and pull out the SIM card from him and the rest of the detainees.

On August 3, 19 people were brought to the Maryino police department. Among them were Sergey and his friend. The work scheme of law enforcement officers was identical: an interrogation from investigators of the UK and from police officers from the police department itself, the car carrier also left one at a time. “My friend came out earlier than me and wrote me a message that they could offer to hand over the phone, but you say, do not give up,” says Sergey. “When I was already told to do this in the police department, I tried to refuse, referring to a lawyer, but they told me that they would be problems and I had to go, it was necessary, well, I had to obey.” Sergei says that the phone was put in a bag on which his characteristics were described, and taken. “I haven't seen him anymore,” says Sergey. “At first I was not worried about anything, because the phones promised to return at the exit from the police department. But then a rumor passed that they would be seized. Therefore, upon returning home, I erased it through iCloud, changed the passwords, ”he says.

Of the papers, Sergey received only a copy of the administrative offense protocol on August 3. He has no documents on the removal of the phone. Of the 19 people, the phones were not taken from two: the girl, since there were no witnesses of women in the police department, and they did not inspect her, and the young man who simply forgot his backpack in the car carrier.

The IT consultant of the Corruption Foundation Vladislav Zdolnikov says that the future phone in the hands of experts from the Investigative Committee depends on whether the iPhone is a smartphone based on Android. At the beginning of 2018, the Israeli company Cellebrite told its clients about the possibility of hacking any Apple iPhone smartphone. The company claims that its technologies allow you to bypass the blocking of most popular smartphones on Android and iOS and upload the owners from devices, as well as restore remote files. At the same time, to hack the device, only physical access to it is needed.

In March of the same year, it became known from the data from the public procurement website that the programs and equipment of the Israeli company are purchased by regional departments of the FSB of Russia, the Investigative Committee and the Ministry of Internal Affairs. In June of this year, the company spoke about upgrade that allows special services to unlock any gadgets from iOS version 7 and above, including the latest iOS 12.3. Vladislav Zdolnikov says that this is not entirely true: “An expensive program knows how to break some fairly old IOS versions, but, according to my information, this equipment is absolutely powerless against the latest updates where vulnerabilities are eliminated.” At first glance, in this way, some of the potentially in the dangers of smartphones are eliminated, but nevertheless there are some tips that the expert considers useful for everyone:

-Firstly, removing programs does not mean leaving them. That is, if you demolished the application from the phone, you can go into your account by installing the application there again. After all, there remains a folder with data sufficient for the entrance. It is necessary to turn the device in each of the services where you are registered. Then - change the password.

That is, one of these actions - removal of the application, exit from the account or a password change - may be insufficient protection, it is necessary to make a set of actions, ”the expert advises.

According to Zdolnikov, those android users who do not encrypt the file system are in particular danger - such are the majority. “The owners of the latter iPhone can breathe a little calmer,” he summarizes. Although for them there are dangers. For example, if instead of a conventional password, the Face ID or Touch ID functions are included, and the smartphone is seized by force, then these services can play into the hands of those who want to pick up your phone. “Then we must try to make ten short presses in a row on the shutdown button. Yes, it will not be very easy. But, unfortunately, such things happen: they are brought to the fingers forcibly, and to faces. If you go to the rally, it is better to turn on a six -hot password or more, as there is enough patience, ”says Zdolnikov.

Sergey B. was detained on August 3 near the contemporary theater and taken to the Krasnoselsky department among the 27 detainees. On the way, they warned everyone that the phones would be taken later, but for now you can use them. “We were not told that the gadgets would be introduced to some criminal case, they reported that they would be taken away for the duration of the interrogation in the police department,” says Sergey. As a result, with the help of an employee of the Investigative Committee, Sergey compiled a certain receipt addressed to the head of the police department about the removal of a mobile phone, pulled out a SIM card, deleted personal entries and several applications, asked his wife to remotely leave all the applications and left a smartphone with a receipt on the table in the assembly hall, reporting the wrong password.

- I went for an interrogation to the investigator. A police officer burst into our office and said that the phone had disappeared or I did not leave him. They searched me, the entire ATS, all who were in the room, toilet. There was no phone anywhere. I assume that an employee of the UK could lose him, but definitely not sure. The phone is old, I go on hiking with him, I am not very sorry. The lawyer who worked with us said that it was all illegal when I left, they still stayed there, ”says Sergey B. He did not receive any documents for his phone.

The Investigative Committee has its own examination, which is engaged in opening and decryption of smartphones. “Of course, this is illegal, third -party and invited specialists should be engaged in such things, and not those who are attributed to the UK and cannot be independent a priori, but so far everything is so,” says lawyer Alexander Zheleznikov. According to him, they will look for answers to the questions posed by the investigator in the phones, the person whose phone is seized should be put on these matters. Most likely, they will be interested in photographs, correspondence, list of contacts, the lawyer is sure.

- If a person was removed from a mobile phone, then he will not necessarily be involved in the case as an accused or suspect.

But kilometers of the video that the owners of the phones were embarrassed, will definitely be watched and attached to the case. They will already look for violators.

Therefore, probably with phones you should say goodbye and wait for a call from the investigator from the UK.

Zavolnikov has a couple of recommendations that you should fulfill if you have already seized the gadget: for Android and iOS there is a remote deletion of all the data that can be implemented by entering the Google and Apple accounts. “Well, the last thing to do is sure is to go to the office of your operator and reissue a SIM card, otherwise law enforcement officers will have the opportunity to request your passwords. This should be done no later than a day after the detention, ”the healthcous recommends. “It is better to demolish everything from the smartphone, if it remained with the investigators, the photos from the vacation are very valuable, of course, but it is definitely not worth maintaining them at the cost of initiating a criminal case,” the expert says.

None of the interlocutors of Novaya Gazeta, who were detained on August 3 and from whom they took phones as part of a criminal case of riots on July 27, was at events a week earlier and therefore unclear, witnesses of what they can be in the framework of the investigation.