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Can you point to a specific case where a defendant was coerced into decrypting some data? As far as I understand it, the 5th Amendment protects a citizen from s

by zcid 9y ago

Can you point to a specific case where a defendant was coerced into decrypting some data? As far as I understand it, the 5th Amendment protects a citizen from such coercion. If you have a physical device such as a Yubikey that unlocks your laptop, the court can order it to be given over, but the requirement that you produce the key from your own memory seems to be a different story.

s73ver_ 9y ago
The closest I can remember is there being a guy who was going through customs coming back to the US. His laptop was inspected, and he had left child porn open on the screen. The inspectors saw it. The guy quickly closed the laptop, causing it to sleep, and causing the disk encryption to kick in, requiring authentication. He was held in contempt when he refused to unlock the laptop. That is a slightly different situation, as the evidence had been seen, and was known to be in the suspect's possession.
- Consultant32452 9y ago
  In another case a district judge ordered a Colorado woman to decrypt her laptop. The person did not have to reveal their password, as that might weirdly count as "testimony," but they did have to provide the unencrypted data. It was ruled that the act of production of data does not constitute testifying against yourself. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Key_disclosure_law#United_States https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Key_disclosure_law#United_Stat...
Consultant32452 9y ago
The warrant is not for the password, but for the unencrypted data. You do not have to reveal your password, technically, but you do have to provide access to the unencrypted data. Since you do have access to the data, but refuse to provide it, you are failing to comply with the warrant. There are two cases referenced in this wiki page which are relevant if you're curious. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Key_disclosure_law#United_States https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Key_disclosure_law#United_Stat...
jsjohnst 9y ago
There’s been quite a few cases, but the Lavabit [0] Case is probably the most famous. Another one that comes to mind is a guy accused of having child porn claiming he can’t remember the password to his data and being held in jail for 2+ years without being convicted [1]. [0] https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2014/04/lavabit-held-in-contempt-of-court-for-printing-crypto-key-in-tiny-font/ https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2014/04/lavabit-held-in-... [1] http://blogs.findlaw.com/third_circuit/2017/03/man-held-in-contempt-for-refusing-to-unlock-devices-in-child-porn-case.html http://blogs.findlaw.com/third_circuit/2017/03/man-held-in-c...

by zcid 9y ago

s73ver_ 9y ago

The closest I can remember is there being a guy who was going through customs coming back to the US. His laptop was inspected, and he had left child porn open on the screen. The inspectors saw it. The guy quickly closed the laptop, causing it to sleep, and causing the disk encryption to kick in, requiring authentication. He was held in contempt when he refused to unlock the laptop. That is a slightly different situation, as the evidence had been seen, and was known to be in the suspect's possession.

Consultant32452 9y ago
In another case a district judge ordered a Colorado woman to decrypt her laptop. The person did not have to reveal their password, as that might weirdly count as "testimony," but they did have to provide the unencrypted data. It was ruled that the act of production of data does not constitute testifying against yourself. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Key_disclosure_law#United_States https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Key_disclosure_law#United_Stat...

Consultant32452 9y ago

The warrant is not for the password, but for the unencrypted data. You do not have to reveal your password, technically, but you do have to provide access to the unencrypted data. Since you do have access to the data, but refuse to provide it, you are failing to comply with the warrant. There are two cases referenced in this wiki page which are relevant if you're curious. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Key_disclosure_law#United_States https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Key_disclosure_law#United_Stat...

jsjohnst 9y ago

There’s been quite a few cases, but the Lavabit [0] Case is probably the most famous. Another one that comes to mind is a guy accused of having child porn claiming he can’t remember the password to his data and being held in jail for 2+ years without being convicted [1]. [0] https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2014/04/lavabit-held-in-contempt-of-court-for-printing-crypto-key-in-tiny-font/ https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2014/04/lavabit-held-in-... [1] http://blogs.findlaw.com/third_circuit/2017/03/man-held-in-contempt-for-refusing-to-unlock-devices-in-child-porn-case.html http://blogs.findlaw.com/third_circuit/2017/03/man-held-in-c...