Indiana Supreme Court Says Compelled Decryption Of Smartphones Violates The Fifth Amendment

Indiana Supreme Court Says Compelled Decryption Of Smartphones Violates The Fifth Amendment

4 years ago
Anonymous $qOHwDUKgAF

https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20200624/15251744774/indiana-supreme-court-says-compelled-decryption-smartphones-violates-fifth-amendment.shtml

Two years ago, the Indiana state Appeals Court ruled residents could not be compelled to unlock devices by law enforcement -- not at the drop of a warrant. To compel the production of a password, law enforcement needs to have a certain amount of information in hand before it can ask courts to hit uncooperative criminal suspects with contempt charges.

The Appeals Court decision raised an interesting point about device encryption. Without decryption, the alleged criminal evidence is nothing more than a scramble of bits and bytes of no use to anyone. With the correct password in place, the data is reintegrated into something usable -- which turns the production of a password into a testimonial act.