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(I'm not a lawyer, I've just read a bunch of blogposts/discussions on the issue) There's a legal difference in some places between having your phone secured by

(I'm not a lawyer, I've just read a bunch of blogposts/discussions on the issue) There's a legal difference in some places between having your phone secured by a fingerprint and a password. If your phone is secured by a password, then in some places you cannot be obliged to provide the password, but a fingerprint you can.

r-w 11y ago
Where are those laws in place?
- will_hughes 11y ago
  In the US in particular. There was a bunch of reporting in the past few days that a Federal District Court in Pennsylvania found that Fifth Amendment rights apply to smartphone passcodes. Random link: http://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/why-the-government-cant-make-you-give-up-your-phone-password/ http://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/why-the-government-cant-... That same protection doesn't seem to apply to fingerprints. Random link: http://time.com/3558936/fingerprint-password-fifth-amendment/ http://time.com/3558936/fingerprint-password-fifth-amendment... Again, I'm not a lawyer, but that seems to be how the law falls out on that issue. Whether that's an issue for you, personally - no idea. It might be a factor for some.
  - Tinyyy 11y ago
    I wonder if its possible to counter this through obscurity. Since the sensor is on the back of the phone, you can use your ring finger to unlock it instead. If >3 attempts with any other fingers are made, then the phone will be locked with a password. That way, you still keep your right to protection.
  - geofft 11y ago
    The other thing about the US is that occasionally you'll find a police department that's willing to bend the law. They can make you touch the fingerprint sensor and then claim that they never did and they found your phone unlocked, and it'll be your word against theirs. If the court believes the police, which they are culturally inclined to do, the Fifth Amendment question doesn't even come up. One of the neat things about encryption, historically, is that the government couldn't force decryption even if it were willing to break the law in doing so. That's why there were export controls and demands for backdoors in the '90s, and that's why there are demands for backdoors today. Fingerprint locks may mathematically involve encryption, but they don't have this property.

r-w 11y ago

Where are those laws in place?

will_hughes 11y ago
In the US in particular. There was a bunch of reporting in the past few days that a Federal District Court in Pennsylvania found that Fifth Amendment rights apply to smartphone passcodes. Random link: http://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/why-the-government-cant-make-you-give-up-your-phone-password/ http://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/why-the-government-cant-... That same protection doesn't seem to apply to fingerprints. Random link: http://time.com/3558936/fingerprint-password-fifth-amendment/ http://time.com/3558936/fingerprint-password-fifth-amendment... Again, I'm not a lawyer, but that seems to be how the law falls out on that issue. Whether that's an issue for you, personally - no idea. It might be a factor for some.
- Tinyyy 11y ago
  I wonder if its possible to counter this through obscurity. Since the sensor is on the back of the phone, you can use your ring finger to unlock it instead. If >3 attempts with any other fingers are made, then the phone will be locked with a password. That way, you still keep your right to protection.
- geofft 11y ago
  The other thing about the US is that occasionally you'll find a police department that's willing to bend the law. They can make you touch the fingerprint sensor and then claim that they never did and they found your phone unlocked, and it'll be your word against theirs. If the court believes the police, which they are culturally inclined to do, the Fifth Amendment question doesn't even come up. One of the neat things about encryption, historically, is that the government couldn't force decryption even if it were willing to break the law in doing so. That's why there were export controls and demands for backdoors in the '90s, and that's why there are demands for backdoors today. Fingerprint locks may mathematically involve encryption, but they don't have this property.