Judge Rules Man Cannot Be Forced To Decrypt HD

Slashdot ^ | 8/19/8 | kdawson

[Clint Williams]

I Don't Believe in Imaginary Property writes

"In Vermont, US Magistrate Judge Jerome Niedermeier has ruled that forcing someone to divulge the password to decrypt their hard drive violates the 5th Amendment. Border guards testify that they saw child pornography on the defendant's laptop when the PC was on, but they made the mistake of turning it off and were unable to access it again because the drive was protected by PGP. Although prosecutors offered many ways to get around the 5th Amendment protections, the Judge would have none of that and quashed the grand jury subpoena requesting the defendant's PGP passphrase. A conviction is still likely because prosecutors have the testimony of the two border guards who saw the drive while it was open." The article stresses the potential importance of this ruling (which was issued last November but went unnoticed until now): "Especially if this ruling is appealed, US v. Boucher could become a landmark case. The question of whether a criminal defendant can be legally compelled to cough up his encryption passphrase remains an unsettled one, with law review articles for the last decade arguing the merits of either approach."

[Clint Williams]

Your call. Anything illegal/inimical that could be discovered on a "search of" (and they can go beyond "search" to record everything on) a laptop or cellphone or MP3 player or digital camera or USB drive could easily be slipped past "Customs" online, circumventing all these physical checks. (No, I am not going to tell you how.)

And take note, TrueCrypt proponents, if Customs asks you for the "other" password and you have none... you might spend a LONG time in detention trying to prove that the rest of your "secured" drive is in fact the random noise it says it is.

Good luck with that, and have a pleasant stay.

[Clint Williams]

FWIW, if he actually had kiddie porn the officials are at fault for letting it go. Better training is needed.

[davidlachnicht]

Ruling correct, even if it sucks.
This is why we do this... so we have the best in positions of authority, and not numb-skulls who touch stuff (PCs) they don’t fully understand.

[wendy1946]

At this point any computer I ever took on an airplane would be one I viewed as disposable.

[The_Reader_David]

If the courts make up an exception to the rule that one cannot be forced to incriminate oneself when the potentially incriminating question is “What is the password to decrypt those files?”, then it will be time for another revolution to reestablish constitutional government.

[sionnsar]

If the courts make up an exception to the rule that one cannot be forced to incriminate oneself when the potentially incriminating question is “What is the password to decrypt those files?”, then it will be time for another revolution to reestablish constitutional government.

All I can say is, "Good luck with that!"

Cheers
(s)

[killermedic]

Well-spoken....some would say that with other infringments we are already past the time of revolution.

[guitarplayer1953]

They already have gotten around the self incrimination with the IRS tax forms

[Lurker]

A conviction is still likely because prosecutors have the testimony of the two border guards who saw the drive while it was open."

And we all know that cops never lie, and are never mistaken.

This is a good ruling and it should stand.

L

[douginthearmy]

Hopefully the cops can get it right and get some evidence on this turd. The only thing worse than the rule of law helping scum go free would be living without the rule of law.

[Lurker]

The only thing worse than the rule of law helping scum go free would be living without the rule of law.

Nice to run into someone else who gets it.

Regards,

L

[libh8er]

Of course the judge can't force. They guy can always he forgot, or that for some reason the password he knew isn't working, any number of reasons.

Now if the judge allowed waterboarding, that would be different..

[Myrddin]

At this point any computer I ever took on an airplane would be one I viewed as disposable.

I only travel with a laptop owned by my employer and only after it has been fully backed up prior to the trip. That's mostly to protect the value of the data on the drive. The entire hard disk is encrypted per company policy. That is required to safeguard company proprietary information AND specialized software that is licensed to me personally...with all the attendant liability that includes.