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DOJ: We Can Force You To Decrypt That Laptop

Posted by samzenpus on from the show-us-everything dept.

betterunixthanunix writes "A mortgage-fraud case may have widespread implications for criminals who use cryptography to hide evidence. The US Department of Justice is pushing for the defendant to be forced to decrypt her hard drive, claiming that if they cannot force such decryptions, law enforcement will be unable to gather important evidence. The defendant's lawyer and the Electronic Frontier Foundation have made the claim that forcing such a decryption would be a violation of the defendant's fifth amendment right not to self-incriminate. The prosecutor in the case has insisted that the defendant would not be forced to disclose her passphrase, but only to enter the passphrase into a computer to decrypt the drive."

5 of 887 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Self-Destructing Key by Yvan256 · · Score: 3, Funny

    Begun, the clone wars has.

  2. Re:"I forgot" worked for alberto gonzales by Cro+Magnon · · Score: 3, Funny

    What if your passphrase is "I forgot"?

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  3. Re:I don't recall... by JonahsDad · · Score: 5, Funny

    "I'm sorry, but I don't recall my passphrase. I guess the stress of this case has made me forget it!"

    Wow! That actually is my passphrase.

  4. Re:When Can They Force Decryption? by pluther · · Score: 5, Funny
    What are you talking about? I've seen lots of movies with hackers in them. It never takes more than a few minutes to get through any security.

    Perhaps the problem is that the graphics they're using to crack the password just aren't fancy enough...

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  5. Re:I don't recall... by hey! · · Score: 4, Funny

    The thing about encryption is that it isn't so much a "safe", it's more analogous to a private citizen having their own moon on which to store valuables.

    It is more akin to speaking and writing everything in your own private language, and forcing the police to determine how to translate that language.

    Actually, it's like putting the evidence far away and making the police fetch it in your car, only they have to hotwire it because you don't give them the keys...

    Yeah, I know it sucks, but at least I *tried* to put it automotive terms.

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