How do police extract data from phones?

The police use several methods to extract data from phones, depending on the level of access needed. Manual extraction involves physically navigating an unlocked phone to view messages, calls, and media. The police can also use software to extract data and make copies of specific files without altering the phone’s structure. In some cases, the police may also access cloud backups from services like Google or Apple with the appropriate legal authority. Advanced encryption on modern devices can make data recovery more difficult, but the police use forensic tools to bypass this where possible.