Seizing a phone does not authorise an indiscriminate exploration of a suspect’s private life. The Italian Court of Cassation reiterated this principle in judgment no. 36827, delivered by its Sixth Criminal Division and filed on 20 October 2026.

The Court examined a seizure ordered in an investigation into corruption and bid rigging, which also covered conversations with family members and cohabitants who were not involved in the procurement procedures under investigation.

The mere possibility of finding disclosures useful to the investigation does not justify unrestricted access to those communications. The necessity of such access must be explained, as must the reasons why the search cannot be narrowed. Subsequently selecting only relevant messages does not retrospectively legitimise indiscriminate access.

The Court therefore annulled the seizure insofar as it concerned conversations with family members and cohabitants not involved in the procedures, ordering the return of the data without retaining copies.

This is not an absolute prohibition on obtaining family conversations. Rather, it requires investigative searches to respect proportionality and relevance while protecting the confidentiality of correspondence.

Source: Italian Court of Cassation, Sixth Criminal Division, judgment no. 36827/2026 — full text in Italian published by Mister Lex.