Imagine Such Rights

Apr 24 2013, 10:05pm GMTDT

Fifth Amendment shields child porn suspect from decrypting hard drives

"Judge says forcing man to unlock files would amount to self-incrimination.

A federal judge refused to compel a Wisconsin suspect to decrypt the contents of several hard drives because doing so would violate the man's Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination. Judge William E. Callahan's Friday ruling ultimately labeled the issue a "close call."

Courts have wrestled with how to apply the Fifth Amendment to encrypted hard drives for several years. According to past rulings, forcing a defendant to decrypt a hard drive isn't necessarily self-incriminating, but forcing a defendant to decrypt a hard drive can amount to self-incrimination if the government can't otherwise show that the defendant has the password for the drive. In that case, forced decryption amounts to a forced confession that the defendant owns the drive."

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2013/04/fifth-amendment-shields-child-porn-suspect-from-decrypting-hard-drives/

Should the Fifth Amendment Stop Child Porn Suspects From Decrypting Their Hard Drive?

http://gizmodo.com/5995359/should-the-fifth-amendment-stop-child-porn-suspects-from-decrypting-their-hard-drive

Encrypted files complicate St. Louis probe of terrorist sympathies, child porn

http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/metro/encrypted-files-complicate-st-louis-probe-of-terrorist-sympathies-child/article_0f189c2c-c8bb-5a53-8b8b-029788edf813.html

Child-Porn Suspect Ordered to Decrypt His Own Data

http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2013/05/decryption-order/