On Tue, Dec 31, 2013 at 14:13:11 +0000,
Bill Oliver <vendor(a)billoblog.com> wrote:
>
> In the US you *can* be ordered to provide a password. Though appeals are
> still working their way up to the Supreme Court, various courts have said
> you must, while others have said that you may not. See, for instance:
>
>
http://privacycast.com/encryption-key-disclosure-ordered-federal-court-fi...
>
>
http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130425/08171522834/judge-says-giving-u...
>
> Thus, it currently in the stage where it depends on what jurisdiction you
> are in. I am not confident that the Supreme Court will side with privacy
> or 5th amendment rights.
While this isn't settled, the main theme where people were ordered to provide
passwords have been where it was already known what was on the machine before
hand. Either because customs saw what appered to be child porn and then
couldn't get the data back afterwards or when someone stated they had some
particular information on their machine.
And of course in civil cases (such as copyright suits), you might lose by
default if you don't provide the requested data.
Heh. I used to say that about the people I knew in the US federal govt,
too.
billo