New York State Senator Terrence Murphy (R-Westchester) and Assembly Assistant Speaker Felix Ortiz (D-Kings) are introducing a bill that would make New York the first state to develop a distracted driving policy. If passed, the new law would allow police to examine phones at accident scenes.
In an announcement about the joint effort between the New York Legislature and a group called Distracted Operators Risk Casualties (DORC), the tech company Cellebrite said it is currently developing the capability for police officers in the field to determine device usage without invading the privacy of data stored on the devices.
According to Jim Grady, Cellebrite, Inc.'s chief executive officer, the company has been focused on field mobile forensics solutions and introduced its UFED FIELD series product line last year. On its website, Cellebrite says the UFED Series can extract, decode and analyze data from thousands of mobile devices. The technology allows forensic investigators to view, access and share mobile data with in-car workstations, laptops, tablets and other digital tools.
Currently, law enforcement agencies can use the UFED technology to accelerate investigations. The platform makes it possible for investigators to complete field work and collaborate with team members back in the lab.
According to DORC, the key to the legislation--SB6325A & A08613A--is giving officers the capability to detect whether or not a device was being used around the time of a crash--but the officers would not be able to view conversations, contacts, numbers, photos and application data.
Specifically, the bill requires anybody operating a motor vehicle involved in an accident and has a mobile phone at the scene must at the request of law enforcement surrender the device for field testing.
