US police are selling seized phones with personal data still on them

Mobile phones seized by police are sold at online auction

Ryan J. Lane/iStockphoto/Getty Images

Cell phones seized in U.S. criminal investigations are being sold online with personal data intact, including emails, bank account information and nude photos. Security experts warn that the practice could allow hackers to buy phones and use the same data and victims as their previous owners to commit the same crimes.

Various U.S. states have laws that allow police to dispose of lost items that aren’t collected within a set amount of time, as well as equipment used in criminal investigations.

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