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This is big news for rape victims in England and Wales 
Police and CPS scrap digital data extraction forms for rape cases...Thread
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2020/jul/16/police-and-cps-scrap-digital-data-extraction-forms-for-cases
Police and CPS scrap digital data extraction forms for rape cases...Thread
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2020/jul/16/police-and-cps-scrap-digital-data-extraction-forms-for-cases
In 2018 I and @LexyTopping heard complainants were being asked to hand over their phone and provide access to their personal data in order for rape prosecutions to go ahead. We were told by multiple victims that their cases were to be dropped unless they gave police their phones
Police extracted everything from their phones - texts, emails, videos, photos, all the data from their social media accounts - a complete download of data which was used to look for evidence to support or discredit their rape report. However the practice varied between forces.
I requested forms from every police force in England and Wales and found victims were facing a postcode lottery when it came to disclosure. In London victims' data could be held for up to 100 years, whereas there was no standard request form for someone reporting rape elsewhere.
That lead to this story in September 2018 https://www.theguardian.com/society/2018/sep/25/revealed-uk-police-demanding-access-data-potential-rape-victims
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2018/sep/25/revealed-uk-police-demanding-access-data-potential-rape-victims
More people came forward and told I and @aamnamohdin that children were being asked to hand over their phones and it was also happening in stranger rape cases, where there would be no contact between parties as they were unknown to one another. https://www.theguardian.com/society/2019/sep/21/devastated-crime-victims-made-to-give-up-phones
The impact of the practice became clear - work by @RapeCrisisEandW showed victims felt like they were being investigated and people were dropping out of rape cases https://www.theguardian.com/society/2019/sep/21/people-report-rape-routine-demands-mobile-data
A new form was set out for all police forces, as reported by I, @owenbowcott & @fperraudin in 2019, but that proved to be almost as problematic as what came before https://www.theguardian.com/society/2019/apr/29/police-face-legal-action-over-requests-for-victims-digital-records
The practice was reviewed by @VictimsComm & @LDNVictimsComm, a complaint was made to the Information Commissioner's Office & a legal challenge was launched by @centreWJ, funded by @EHRC. Now the revamped "consent forms" are being scrapped. What will replace them remains unclear.
