The personal data inserted into cell phone and their constitucional protection: lessons brought by the United States Supreme Court

Abstract

This article deals with the possibility of accessing the data found on the citizen's cell phone after seizure in a personal search. The research adopts the hypothetical-deductive method, intending to test the presented hypotheses, using bibliographic and jurisprudential research techniques. In this step, it begins with an analysis of citizenship and the protection of intimacy in the Information Age, followed by an explanation of the influence of this protection in criminal investigations today, as a limit to state action, even in the fight against crime. That said, an analysis of the understanding of the Superior Court of Justice, the Federal Supreme Court and the Supreme Court of the United States is now carried out, in order to consider how the issue has been dealt by these courts. The objective is, with this, to verify if there is, or not, need, in respect to the citizen's privacy, of previous judicial authorization for such access. The conclusion is that access to personal data – such as calendar, phone calls, photos – is only valid if there is prior judicial authorization, in view of the guarantee of privacy.