Phone Privacy Concern :(

A few months ago I had an accidental overdose on heroin and the police came to my house along with the paramedics. The police notified me that they would be taking my phone due to "drug interest" whether I consented to it or not. After calling my local police department everyday asking about my phone, they finally ended up sending me a notice that I could pick it up at the station a couple months ago. I just reactivated it today and I have been overwhelmed by paranoia. Is it probable that the police have bugged my phone? Would a factory reset suffice? Are my personal computers also at risk, since I plugged my phone into them? All of this concern about privacy literally has me paralyzed by fear. I just want to live my life comfortably and be able to breathe, but I cant just stand idly in ignorance. If any tinfoil aficionados could shed some light here, I would be extremely grateful.


Comments


[6 Points] enterathrowaway:

I HIGHLY doubt the police bugged your phone. LE isn't going to waste time/money on someone who just OD'd on smack.


[6 Points] D15EA5ED:

They don't have to "bug" your phone, your service provider has a nice web interface they can log into that shows all the information about your calls and text messages (they might need a warrant to see the actual contents of the messages, so they probably download them directly while they had it away fro you). They use that data along with the data they get from other "drug interests" to see if they can find any common numbers that might belong to someone who's dealing to work tThe infomration is associated with your phone's imei factory restting won't change heir way up the chain.

If you need to do shady stuff on your phone, head to walmart and get a pre-paid one and a refill card (pay with cash obviously), activate it online over TOR. You probably shouldn't do shady stuff over the phone though, use pidgin with OTR instead. I don't know why anyone would still use phones for that sort of stuff these days.


[3 Points] ShadyHacker:

Get a new phone. Little fuck-ups like this is what brings down people. Sorry to sound blunt.


[1 Points] galaxyandspace:

I remember your post from a while back... Did you end up lawyering up?

Want to know if your phone's hardware is wired? You have to tear it down. Here is a good website with great instructions for most phones. https://www.ifixit.com/Guide

If your software is set up, a factory reset may do. Just don't use the backup from your computer to restore. Start totally new.


[1 Points] Clean-House:

CLEAN HOUSE.


[0 Points] None:

I just want to say that if there was any evidence that you use dnm's, they could definitely be looking at your mail more carefully. I assume thats why you posted here. I also just want to say that it is highly unlikely that they bugged your phone, but if you want to be extra careful, maybe download a calling/texting app to use when you do anything illegal.