London police will soon be able to extract mobile phone data in minutes

The London Metropolitan Police Service has announced that it will begin using a new tool that gives officers the ability to extract data from a mobile device in a matter of minutes. The service will be using Radio Tactics’ Aceso Kiosk, a touch-screen device that will be deployed in 16 boroughs across the city. According to the company, the device can pull data like call history, photos, videos, and email and social networking info from a phone in an average of 20 minutes. The kiosk can pull data from the phone itself, as well as from any memory or SIM cards it carries, and it also works with USB flash drives and portable GPS units.

More than 300 Met Police employees will be trained to use the device, and the service says that it’s being implemented mainly to increase speed. Currently suspected mobile devices are sent to a digital forensics lab for processing, but the Aceso Kiosk means that processing can be done while the suspect remains in custody. “Our ability to act on forensically-sound, time-critical information, from SMS to images contained on a device quickly gives us an advantage in combating crime, notably in terms of identifying people of interest quickly and progressing cases more efficiently,” said the Met Police’s Stephen Kavanagh. However, as Computerworld UK points out, not details have been given as to what will happen to extracted data should a suspect ultimately not be charged after an arrest. The kiosks are set to be rolled out “in the coming weeks.”