The issue is surely that the police are asking for data without the owners permission (and which isn't the original owner's data - the device yes, the data now

The issue is surely that the police are asking for data without the owners permission (and which isn't the original owner's data - the device yes, the data now on it, no). Are we saying that a third party should hand over data to the police without the owner of that data giving permission based solely on an allegation? Personally I'm not wild about that idea, it feels like something that could be very easily abused. We're very quick to demand full legal due process when someone wants access to private data held by a third party and we don't feel it should be surrendered it, but a consequence of that is that it pretty much becomes necessary to follow legal process in all instances because very few of them (including this one) are completely clear.