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> After all, you have no 4th amendment protection against the government forcing you to unlock your cellar Am I obligated to unlock it? I can't bar them entry
by maratd 13y ago
> After all, you have no 4th amendment protection against the government forcing you to unlock your cellar
Am I obligated to unlock it? I can't bar them entry since they have a valid search warrant, but am I under the obligation to facilitate it?
In the case of the cellar, they can simply force their way in, but with an encrypted hard drive? They have no way of decrypting it without my help.
- rayiner 13y agoYes, the court can hold you in contempt for not giving them the key. See: http://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=13470186693193682219&q=487+U.S.+201&hl=en&as_sdt=2,33 http://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=1347018669319368... ("He may in some cases be forced to surrender a key to a strongbox containing incriminating documents, but I do not believe he can be compelled to reveal the combination to his wall safe — by word or deed.", Stevens dissenting).
- rosser 13y agoDownvoters: please don't ding people for presenting factual information with which you happen to disagree.
- declan 13y agoYou're presenting this as if it's settled law, but it's not. This is an area of active litigation. Here's an article I wrote about a federal judge in Vermont, for instance, saying that compelled disclosure of passphrases protecting encrypted volumes violates the Fifth Amendment: http://news.cnet.com/8301-13578_3-9834495-38.html http://news.cnet.com/8301-13578_3-9834495-38.html But a federal judge in Colorado reached the opposite conclusion: http://news.cnet.com/8301-31921_3-57364330-281/ http://news.cnet.com/8301-31921_3-57364330-281/ The U.S. Supreme Court has not ruled on the constitutionality of compelled disclosure of passphrases. Which is why it's a mistake to make definitive claims in this area.