Friday, February 24, 2012

Appeals court: Fifth Amendment protections can apply to encrypted hard drives

Appeals court: Fifth Amendment protections can apply to encrypted hard drives

Ars Technica article discussing several recent cases involving encrypted hard drives, and when the government can compel production of the password, and when it cannot.

Brief quote:
Two rulings this week helped to clarify the circumstances under which a defendant can be compelled to reveal the contents of an encrypted hard drive. On Wednesday, the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals let stand a judge's ruling in a Colorado case that the defendant in a mortgage fraud case could be compelled to produce the contents of her encrypted laptop. But on Thursday, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals overturned a Florida contempt of court charge against a suspect in a child pornography case who refused to decrypt the encrypted contents of several hard drives. (cont)

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