Police can access mobile phone data for minor crimes, EU top court rules

European police can access data on people’s phones even when they aren’t suspected of serious crimes, the EU’s top court ruled Friday.

“To consider that only the fight against serious crime is capable of justifying access to data contained in a mobile telephone would unduly limit the investigative powers of the competent authorities,” the court said in a press release this morning.

Such a limitation on police powers would mean an “increased risk of impunity for criminal offenses,” the court said.