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Virginia Court: LEOs Can Force You To Provide Fingerprint To Unlock Your Phone

Posted by Soulskill on from the now-where-am-i-going-to-store-my-incriminating-evidence dept.

schwit1 writes with news of a Circuit Court decision from Virginia where a judge has ruled that a criminal defendant cannot use Fifth Amendment protections to safeguard a phone that is locked using his or her fingerprint. According to Judge Steven C. Fucci, while a criminal defendant can't be compelled to hand over a passcode to police officers for the purpose of unlocking a cellular device, law enforcement officials can compel a defendant to give up a fingerprint. The Fifth Amendment states that "no person shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself," which protects memorized information like passwords and passcodes, but it does not extend to fingerprints in the eyes of the law, as speculated by Wired last year. Frucci said that "giving police a fingerprint is akin to providing a DNA or handwriting sample or an actual key, which the law permits. A passcode, though, requires the defendant to divulge knowledge, which the law protects against, according to Frucci's written opinion."

6 of 328 comments (clear)

  1. don't use biometrics by roc97007 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Yet another reason not to use biometrics to unlock devices.

    --
    Oliver's law of assumed responsibility: If you're seen fixing it, you will be blamed for breaking it.
    1. Re:don't use biometrics by nikhilhs · · Score: 5, Insightful

      You'd be surprised how many felonies and misdemeanors they could find on your phone. If they find anything suggesting you committed a crime, they can make your life hell for quite a while. This affects everybody.

    2. Re:don't use biometrics by Trailer+Trash · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Yet another reason not to use biometrics to unlock devices.

      Also yet another reason to stay the hell away from Virginia. I hope that the next time someone tries to create a free country they look at our example and build in safeguards against stupid judges, law enforcement officers, DAs, etc. And when I say "safeguards" I mean literal criminal penalties for this sort of stuff.

      --
      Do you have ESP?
    3. Re:don't use biometrics by Moof123 · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Go through your email inbox sometime. Try thinking like a paranoid below average intelligence cop with a daily quota to meet and read the last dozen or so emails you sent out of context, same with recent text messages. Innocent statements taken out of context can be bent and twisted in a cop's, or prosecutor's head.

      Got pictures of your toddler daughter playing in the sprinkler or bath tub on there somewhere? You might not want them looking through there and charging you with distributing child pornography.

      The broader point is that a large percentage people have much of their personal lives on the phone. Anything that make that makes that easily accessible to the police without your consent is a big deal. Information that we kept in our home file cabinet just a decade or two ago is now on our phone, so anything that makes it easier to search a phone than a house is a big step backwards in our freedom.

    4. Re:don't use biometrics by sconeu · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Quoth Cardinal Richilieu:

      If one would give me six lines written by the hand of the most honest man, I would find something in them to have him hanged.

      --
      General Relativity: Space-time tells matter where to go; Matter tells space-time what shape to be.
  2. This is not like giving a DNA sample by mysidia · · Score: 4, Insightful

    This is like being required to sign your name.

    The security feature on your phone is designed to not unlock unless you signify approval.

    Giving up a key or DNA sample is not signifying your approval; it's just surrendering information which is stored outside your brain.