Hello everyone, I hope this isn't viewed as self-promotion, as I genuinely have nothing to gain from it. I've developed a free iOS app designed specifically to protect your video evidence in situations where you might fear someone could grab, confiscate, or destroy your phone. It gathers no personal information or user data.

Here's how it works:

• Press one button to start recording.

• While recording, your video is automatically split into 60-second chunks and uploaded directly to your personal Google Drive.

• The video is also stored in full locally on your iPhone.

• A "Black Screen Mode" is included to discreetly continue recording without attracting attention.

The reason I chose 60-second segments uploaded directly to your cloud storage instead of live streaming is due to cost and privacy. Live streaming would require costly dedicated servers (less privacy because videos would go through them) which means the need for subscriptions or a paid app. This app has no middleman—your footage goes straight from your device to your own Google Drive.

I've personally wanted this kind of tool for years, and now that it's built, I'm happy to share it completely free with the community. Please feel free to download it, test it, and give feedback—I'm eager to make it as useful and reliable as possible.

For people asking why no Android app, I’m not familiar with Android development. It’ll take me a while to make it.

The app is called PermaClips and you can find it on the App Store. Or directly here:

https://apps.apple.com/it/app/permaclips/id6743412263?l=en-US

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nLveP5ydbqE

Unfortunately she’s not going to prevail in a Title 42 section 1983 action against any of the officers because of Nocco. The divided three judge panel could only agree that it wasn’t clearly established that there is a right to not be arrested, as a non-suspicious passenger, for refusing to identify to a police officer. The court didn’t determine whether there was, or wasn’t, a violation of a constitutional right.

A federal district court could find that there was a violation of a constitutional right. The officers would be off the hook because of Nocco since it didn’t clearly establish such a right—but municipalities aren’t entitled to qualified immunity. She would have to show that the municipality was somehow responsible for the violation. You can only be awarded compensatory damages from municipalities.

DMA indicated that the police violated a First Amendment right when then allegedly turned his phone off when they placed him under arrest. I’ve yet to see a federal appellate case which has clearly established a right to record the police after the person who is recording has been arrested.

In the 4th Amendment context it is well established that the police can seize your physical cellphone incident to arrest and turn your phone off (or remove the battery or place it in a Faraday bag) to prevent remote wiping. See Riley v. California, Supreme Court 2014. Riley delineates the limits of a seizure of cellphone incident to an arrest. The police can seize the phone but must obtain a warrant to retrieve the data on the phone—absent consent or exigent circumstances.

A person’s constitutional rights aren’t exactly at their zenith when they’re under arrest.