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Murder Suspect Jailed Over Refusing To Reveal Password In the UK (bbc.co.uk)
A man suspected of murdering a teenager in England has been arrested for failing to hand over his Facebook password to authorities. The BBC reports: Lucy McHugh, 13, was found stabbed to death in woodland last month, a day after she disappeared. Stephen-Alan Nicholson, 24, pleaded guilty to failing to comply with an order under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act, requiring him to disclose the Facebook password. He was sentenced to 14 months in jail.
He was first arrested on July 27 on suspicion of murder and sexual activity with a child and subsequently bailed. But he was also charged under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act. The court heard the charge related to a court order that Nicholson disclose his Facebook password protecting any private communications with Lucy McHugh. Passing sentence, Judge Christopher Parker did not accept Nicholson's "wholly inadequate" excuse that providing his password would expose information relating to cannabis.
He was first arrested on July 27 on suspicion of murder and sexual activity with a child and subsequently bailed. But he was also charged under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act. The court heard the charge related to a court order that Nicholson disclose his Facebook password protecting any private communications with Lucy McHugh. Passing sentence, Judge Christopher Parker did not accept Nicholson's "wholly inadequate" excuse that providing his password would expose information relating to cannabis.
Why can't the authorities just ask Facebook for all private communications as part of the investigation?
They are, it just takes a lot of time. The BBC article says:
Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...
Domestic spying is now "Benign Information Gathering"
They don't need the password. They can just subpoena the evidence directly from Facebook.
so they could waterboard the corpse until it coughs up the password
Look, it is a password, used to get past Facebook's login page. It is not an encryption key.
The girl's family can email a photo of the death certificate to Facebook, along with proof that they are the next-of-kin, and Facebook will give them access to the account. No waterboarding is necessary. Alternatively, the police can get a warrant or subpoena.
I have no idea what my facebook password is. i have to change it everytime chrome forgets it.