Question to the Home Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government whether any police forces, other than Police Scotland, have used, or are planning to use "cyber kiosks" which can override passwords to access data.

The police are operationally independent of the Home Office and the use of their powers to investigate crime, including operational guidance, is a matter for them.

Current guidance issued by the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) and the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) stresses that decisions to access mobile phones have to be made on a case-by-case basis, balancing reasonable lines of inquiry with the right to privacy. Mobile phones of complainants and witnesses may only be accessed with their informed consent.

The NPCC and the CPS will engage with stakeholders, including the In-formation Commissioner’s Office, on this issue.