Can someone download the data on your smartphone, even when they can’t open it, and how can you tell if someone has done so? [closed]
Two weeks ago, I went to an embassy in my country to give a job interview. (Let's just say this embassy represents a powerful Western country.) Before I could enter the room where the panelists were waiting, an HR officer asked me to surrender my smartphone. I don't know where she put it or what she did with it. I also don't know why she asked me to surrender to her only my phone. I could have had other recording gadgets with me for all she knew.
My phone is password-protected. Still, considering how sophisticated espionage technologies are, I can't shake off the thought the HR officer somehow scanned my phone or installed something on it to monitor me. This thought makes even more sense to me when I remember reading from the job ad that whoever gets the job will go through security screening, even when this job isn't directly involved in national security.
So my questions are can someone download the data on your smartphone, even when they can't open it, and how can you tell if someone has done so?
