A NSW bill introduced on 6 August 2026 would let police enforce an order to unlock your phone at an arrest, a roadside stop or other lawful detention, with no search warrant sitting underneath it. Refusing on the grounds that complying would incriminate you is not a reasonable excuse under the bill. The order can be made against someone police only believe has knowledge of an organised crime offence, not just a suspect.
Nobody publishes how many phones get opened. The NSW Police annual report doesn’t count them, the NSW Crime Commission says it does not publish the figure, and nothing in the bill requires the data to ever be deleted. Digital evidence access orders have been law since February 2023 without a single published number. We asked the Police Minister’s office about this. It said it would come back to us. It hasn’t.
Support us ❤️ https://www.patreon.com/thewestreport
Our Journalism 📰 https://michaelwest.com.au
Merch 👕 https://lonelykidsclub.com/collections/michael-west
Linktree 🌐 https://linktr.ee/michaelwestmedia.com.au
00:00 Opening
02:02 The Bill
02:54 No Reasonable Excuse
04:12 A Second Regime
06:23 Barrett’s Ask
07:09 Cellebrite Genesis
08:18 Nobody Counts
09:41 Used On Protesters
11:13 Where This Lands
Articles Mentioned:
Customs confiscates travellers’ phones. Does Israeli tech firm clone them?
Surveillance State. NSW Police to seize mobile phone data without a warrant
Michael West established Michael West Media in 2016 to focus on journalism of high public interest, particularly the rising power of corporations over democracy. West was formerly a journalist and editor with Fairfax newspapers, a columnist for News Corp and even, once, a stockbroker.
