Cops can make you unlock your phone if you use your fingerprint to unlock.

[Tygron]

Not sure if this exactly fits in with tech news but, thought it was interesting all the same.

 

http://mashable.com/2014/10/30/cops-can-force-you-to-unlock-phone-with-fingerprint-ruling/#:eyJzIjoiZiIsImkiOiJfNjB3cXptbDVsbjk1YmIyZiJ9 

Cops can force you to unlock your smartphone with your fingerprint — but they can't force you to unlock it with your passcode, according to a judge in Virginia.

 

The decision, one of the first ones to deal with fingerprints and cellphones, confirms the fact that law enforcement agents can get access to a locked phone with legal means if they need to. At the same time a PIN or a password might enjoy more protection than a fingerprint.

 

Virginia Beach Circuit Court Judge Steven Frucci ruled that a criminal defendant can be compelled to give up his fingerprint and unlock his cellphone in the course of a criminal investigation — because that's just like handing in a DNA sample or a physical key, which citizens can already be legally compelled to give to police.

 

On the other hand, police can't force a defendant to give up his passcode, because that's considered "knowledge" — not a physical object — and knowledge is protected by the Fifth Amendment. There have been cases, however, where defendants have been asked to give up their password to decrypt their computers, so there no consensus on this issue yet, as Wired's Andy Greenberg reported recently.

 

The ruling sprung from an investigation involving David Baust, an Emergency Medical Services captain who was charged in February with attempting to strangle his girlfriend.

 

Baust's attorney has tried to stop prosecutors from getting access to his client's phone, where he could be storing a video of the incident, according to The Virginian-Pilot.

 

Technology and legal experts were not surprised by the ruling, since the Fifth Amendment, which protects against self-incrimination, doesn't protect physical objects like fingerprints.

 

"It's exactly what we thought it would happen when Apple announced its fingerprint ID," Hanni Fakhoury, a staff attorney at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a digital rights organization, told Mashable. (Android phones such as the Galaxy S5 and HTC One Max also have fingerprint ID systems.)

 

While the ruling in Virginia Beach is not as binding as a Supreme Court decision, it does establish legal precedent other local courts can draw on. More importantly, "it's just a good wake-up call for people to realize that fingerprint ID doesn't necessarily provide the same sort of legal protection than a password does," Fakhoury says.

 

Last year, when Apple announced TouchID, its technology to unlock the phone with a fingerprint, some experts warned of this risk.

[NeatSquidYT]

That's fucking stupid

[Firearm2112]

Brb turning off TouchID on my iPhone

[KingDaddyDaniel]

it's a good thing I dont subscribe the Apple products or their terribly insecure policies

[TheMcSame]

And this is why fingerprint scanners on phones aren't a selling point.

 

Meanwhile, I'm sat here with password protection and encrypted storage. GG.

[mr moose]

It's pretty fucking simple people, don't use your phone for illegal shit, and if you are going to cheat on your partner, do it the old fashioned way with either a co worker or the mail man.

[MuffinTopMike]

I am pretty sure in Australia, the police cannot search your phone unless they have a search warrant.

[Nineshadow]

It's logical.

[vm'N]

it's a good thing I dont subscribe the Apple products or their terribly insecure policies

I don't see how this is apples products or policies fault.

[Bogica]

What did you expect?
We need to stop with the whole fingerprint unlocking and fingerprint sensors on smartphones.

[Tygron]

I don't see how this is apples products or policies fault.

I wouldn't say it's their fault. But as one of the first smartphones to have a fingerprint scanner, they kinda made this possible. That being said, if you're concerned about the cops making you unlock your phone... don't use it.

 

 

What did you expect?

We need to stop with the whole fingerprint unlocking and fingerprint sensors on smartphones.

 

Why do you say that? I don't see anything wrong with it having them. It's up to the person using it to use it or not.

[elecxonica]

And this is why finger print scanners on phones aren't a selling point.

 

Meanwhile, I'm sat here with password protection and encrypted storage. GG.

Also, you can change a password, and you don't leave your password millimeters away from the scanner.

[vm'N]

I wouldn't say it's their fault. But as one of the first smartphones to have a fingerprint scanner, they kinda made this possible.

Apple presented a new feature for the newer phones.

Someone else saw the opportunity to abuse it.

Everything can be abused.

[mr moose]

I am pretty sure in Australia, the police cannot search your phone unless they have a search warrant.

 

I don't know if it has changed, but I am pretty sure you are right. When I was into photography we looked into the laws becasue the police at times were allegedly forcing people to remove the film from there camera or the SD card and hand it over to police (who would either look at all the pics or delete them).  It turns out the police need a search warrant to view anything that is not readily accessible to the public. so that means they need a warrant for pics on a camera, data on a phone or computer or anything not visible (I.E in car boot) to the public.

[LAwLz]

I am pretty sure in Australia, the police cannot search your phone unless they have a search warrant.

This is when they have a warrant. The US's fifth amendment says that you do not have to witness against yourself. Giving police access to your phone counts as witnessing against yourself because you are giving them info that could be used against you (thus, you are providing them with evidence that you're guilty).

This is what "you have the right to remain silent" is based on. Apparently it doesn't apply to DNA samples though (for good reasons).

 

 

I never thought about this before but it makes perfect sense. But It does seem like an unfair loophole in the law. Not sure if I think it's good or bad.

 

What's the most shocking for me is that the criminal managed to film himself strangling his girlfriend. The only way I can imagine this happening is if he was Goro.

[Oshino Shinobu]

Am I the only person who doesn't have a lock on their phone? I get annoyed with having to enter a code every time I want to do something, so I just don't bother having one. Then again, I don't have anything on my phone that I really don't want other people seeing, anything that I want to keep private I just move off my phone. 

[ManWithBeard1990]

This was to be expected. Biometrics never have been a good way to protect your information from people who readily have access to your body (lol). It's unfortunate that society is evolving in such a way that we need to protect ourselves from those who should be protecting us.

[kokobash13]

Wow. Was mindblown by the logic behind it

[hawaiims]

Why is this a surprise coming from the US of A, a country that jails people without ever giving them trials or lawyers at all

 

It's incredible every time I think about it. We always talk about small issues about the police being too power hungry and yet here we are jailing people without any evidence, without a fair trial, without fair representation? 

 

Jailing for decades without a trial is a dark age tactic, I shudder to think that this country partakes in it. It's a much bigger issue than some case about DNA being given over without a warrant. 

[RuecanOnRails]

https://twitter.com/SwiftOnSecurity/status/527896101643616257

 

[Osmium]

Am I the only person who doesn't have a lock on their phone? I get annoyed with having to enter a code every time I want to do something, so I just don't bother having one. Then again, I don't have anything on my phone that I really don't want other people seeing, anything that I want to keep private I just move off my phone. 

 

Same, I don't give a fuck who sees what I keep on my phone

[Albatross]

At least they are protected from something... <_<

 

Everyone should sit and watch this video. Will save you from headaches and potential criminal charges. It is very educational and also a hoot.

 

 

Same, I don't give a fuck who sees what I keep on my phone

 

That's sad...

 

Why is this a surprise coming from the US of A, a country that jails people without ever giving them trials or lawyers at all

 

It's incredible every time I think about it. We always talk about small issues about the police being too power hungry and yet here we are jailing people without any evidence, without a fair trial, without fair representation? 

 

Jailing for decades without a trial is a dark age tactic, I shudder to think that this country partakes in it. It's a much bigger issue than some case about DNA being given over without a warrant. 

 

Don't you know by now? All of America is evil.

[Octagoncow]

Very interesting. Can they not tell you to unlock your phone with a PIN, but not be told what the PIN was? Overall I wouldn't really consider this to be too bad for Apple. I wouldn't imagine that a cop would be requesting your phone to be unlocked without a good reason; especially for the average person.

[Albatross]

Very interesting. Can they not tell you to unlock your phone with a PIN, but not be told what the PIN was? Overall I wouldn't really consider this to be too bad for Apple. I wouldn't imagine that a cop would be requesting your phone to be unlocked without a good reason; especially for the average person.

 

Who determines that "good" reason? The cop?

[Bsmith]

ohh well, i wouldnt even be botherd to use a finger print scanner, i prefer my passcode.

 

 

 

it's a good thing I dont subscribe the Apple products or their terribly insecure policies

 

atleast theirs can't be used by devs without license(looking at samsung that also has a phone with this tech)