{
  "id": 16556510,
  "title": "Ex-student loses appeal over iPhone hidden in underwear during SPM trial",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/26/ex-student-loses-appeal-over-iphone-hidden-in-underwear-during-spm",
  "topic": "tech",
  "section": "Tech",
  "published": "2026-10-26T03:20:15.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "New Straits Times",
    "slug": "new-straits-times",
    "url": "https://www.nst.com.my/news/regional/2026/10/1563696/ex-student-loses-appeal-over-iphone-hidden-underwear-during-spm-trial"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "A former student has lost an appeal over being forced to surrender her iPhone during a spot check for suspected cheating during her SPM trial exam. The High Court ruled that schools cannot legally inspect the digital contents of confiscated mobile phones without explicit legal authority. The High Court dismissed the appeal by Nur Nabilah Ahmad Zambala, who had sued her teachers and the government for negligence and defamation. Judge Yusrin Faidz Yusoff stated that while confiscating the phone was allowed, inspecting its digital content was beyond the school's legal authority. The judge also found that the school had not followed proper procedures for confiscating the phone, but ruled that this procedural error did not constitute negligence as the teachers acted reasonably in investigating the cheating. The ruling also noted that the school's failure to investigate how Nabilah obtained confidential SPM trial examination materials was more serious than her possession of a phone during the exam.",
  "summary": "KUALA LUMPUR: Schools cannot examine the contents of students’ mobile phones without legal authority, the High Court has ruled.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}