This document sets out the obligations on the police under the Data Protection Act 2018 and how these interact with other relevant legislation and case law. It provides police officers and staff with a set of principles to inform how they obtain digital devices – most often mobile phones but also laptops and other computers – from victims, witnesses and suspects for the purpose of an investigation and how they then extract the digital material from those devices. It will also help the public understand the responsibilities of the police when gathering evidence, obtaining devices and accessing the material held on them.