800 Points
Encrypt your smartphones with a strong alphanumeric password that is at least 20 characters long. This prevents data from being read very effectively.

More information

Strong encryption is important. A screen lock is not enough and is not the same as encryption. Activate encryption in your settings! Professional mobile forensic software like Cellebrite can easily bypass most screen locks via the USB interface by exploiting security holes or trying to guess your pin. All police departments in Germany have this software. All your data, contacts, call logs, location data, login data and much more could then be automatically collected, processed and visualized via USB. Your encryption password should therefore be particularly strong. Use a very complex pattern or an alphanumeric password for encryption!

But what is the difference between encryption and a pin or password? Put simply, password or pin protection is like a locked room. Attackers can still break through the window or wall to access your data. With encryption, on the other hand, the entire room is hacked into small pieces and scattered evenly across the floor. It is not possible to read out this data chaos without the right key that sorts everything again.

Particularly important for the following target groups:

  • Protests and demonstrations
  • Direct actions
  • Migration, flight and asylum
  • Vacation and travel
  • House searches and confiscations

Other categories

  • Important basics
  • Dangers due to direct access
  • Rather simple

Sources and further links

  1. 7 essential password rules to follow in 2024, according to security experts, zdnet.com, (en), 2024-10-25
  2. Smartphone access allowed even for minor offenses, tagesschau.de, (de), 2024-10-04
  3. Google Warns: Android Zero-Day Flaws in Pixel Phones Exploited by Forensic Companies, thehackernews.com, (en), 2024-04-03
  4. Saxony-Anhalt - Police search a smartphone every 3.5 hours, netzpolitik.org, (de), 2024-02-12
  5. Transparent refugees - Changing lives for the worse with computers, media.ccc.de, (de), 2023-12-29
  6. Deportation of tolerated persons: Berlin continues to search cell phones, netzpolitik.org, (de), 2023-06-28
  7. Phone-Cracking Cellebrite Software Used to Prosecute Tortured Dissident, theintercept.com, (en), 2016-12-08
  8. How to Enter the US With Your Digital Privacy Intact, wired.com, (en)