PRIVACY INTERNATIONAL has written to the government’s investigatory powers commissioner asking him to investigate if the police have been unlawfully hacking British citizens’ phones.

The campaign group wrote to Lord Justice Fulford earlier this week over police forces’ use of intrusive mobile phone extraction technology, raising concerns that it involves the “interception of communications” or “equipment interference” — in other words, hacking.

Privacy International asked the commissioner to conduct an urgent review into police use of the technology and assess if there is a proper legal basis for its use.

The group also included a copy of its recent report Digital Stop and Search, which found Britain’s “serious problems” with discriminatory policing could be exacerbated by use of such technology.

The letter to the commissioner said the report “reveals cogent evidence of the proliferation of the technology and the complete absence of any effective legal basis for its use,” which is “a significant violation of privacy and has implications for criminal justice.”

Privacy International solicitor Millie Graham Wood said: “We are concerned that the police are able to download all of the contents of people’s phones when no-one seems to be sure whether there is a law or statute that says they can do this.

“Policing isn’t meant to be a free-for-all where they can make up their own rules as they go along.

“We are really worried that the police’s use of this highly intrusive technology is growing at an alarming rate, without any proper scrutiny and, crucially, without people knowing their rights when faced with a police officer who wants to search their phone.”