Police Deny Sending Suspects' Devices To Mainland

The police on Wednesday denied a report that officers have been sending mobile phones and other electronics devices seized from suspects here to authorities across the border to break into them.

The Washington Post had reported that mainland authorities had used sophisticated data-extraction technology to gather information for use in investigations.

The Post also cited an anonymous police officer as saying that while the force’s Cyber Security and Technology Crime Bureau was unable to crack newer Apple iPhone models in Hong Kong – they managed to compromise devices running on Android systems, and access information on Google Drive from some seized devices.

The report also said police had seized more than 200 devices from 53 people arrested last Wednesday in connection with the pro-democracy camp's Legco primaries last year.

They are accused of subverting state power and trying to paralyse the Hong Kong government. Most of them were later freed on bail without charge.

Some later reported abnormal activities on their social media accounts.

In a statement, the force rejected the allegations, saying it did not send any mobile phones or electronic devices taken from arrestees to the mainland.

It also condemned what it said were unfounded accusations, saying people with ulterior motives were spreading misinformation through the media, to mislead the public and incite hatred towards the police.

Responding to the police statement, Shibani Mahtani, the Washington Post journalist who wrote the report, said the newspaper had sought comment from the police before the story was published and it had not received any denial from the police’s public relations branch.

“We stand by our reporting and sourcing,” she tweeted.