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Cops can force suspect to unlock phone with thumbprint, US court rules (arstechnica.com)
submitted 2 years ago by to c/privacy@lemmy.ml
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The legal situation is more complex and nuanced than the headline implies, so the article is worth reading. This adds another ruling to the confusing case history regarding forced biometric unlocking.

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[+] -9 points 2 years ago* (2 children)

Yeah, it’s like if you kept a bunch of illegal things in a safe the authorities have the authority to force you to unlock the safe.

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  • [–] [S] 48 points 2 years ago (2 children)

    Authorities with a warrant can drill into a safe to get to its contents. That’s legally distinct from forcing someone to unlock the safe by entering the combination. It takes some mental effort to enter a combination, so it counts as “testimony”, and in the USA people can’t be forced to testify against themselves.

    The parallel in US law is that people can be forced to unlock a phone using biometrics, but they can’t be forced to unlock a phone by entering a passcode. The absurd part here is that the actions have the same effect, but one of them can be compelled and the other cannot.

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  • [–] 11 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    It’ll be interesting to see if it applies to facial recognition. In iOS, at least, you need to look at the phone to unlock it. That’s an intentional action. If you look to the side or close your eyes, it won’t work.

    So if you’re conscious, you can’t easily be forced to unlock the phone with your face and eyes if you’re able to resist. But if you’re unconscious, then maybe they could use your face (assuming your eyes aren’t rolled back into your head because the cops gave you brain damage.)

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  • [–] 9 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    But you can be easily tricked. Even easier than with the fingerprint.

    "Hey, can you look at those pictures?", shows some printed out pictures with the phone hiding behind and then quickly just dropping the pictures.

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  • [–] 2 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    then quickly just dropping the pictures

    Could even poke a camera-sized hole in the picture. And disguise it by putting that hole over something similarly-coloured.

    But anyway, but of it is really that you can be held in contempt for refusing to unlock with biometrics, if they've got an appropriate warrant.

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  • [–] 1 point 2 years ago

    They can also compel you to provide a key to the safe, should one exist.

    The issue constantly is something you have vs something you know. They also can compel you to provide a document or item from within the safe, if they know that the item exists.

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