Cops can force suspect to unlock phone with thumbprint, US court rules
Cops can force suspect to unlock phone with thumbprint, US court rules
Ruling: Thumbprint scan is like a "blood draw or fingerprint taken at booking."
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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This isn't new. I've been on the passcode to unlock train for a long time because of this. It's only news in that it's been codified by the court. You can't be compelled to reveal info.
On iPhone: press and hold the lock button and either volume button for 1-2sec. It'll force a passcode despite biometrics.
You can also turn your phone off. Phones require a passcode after booting up.
I hate Siri, but you can do a "Hey Siri, whose phone is this?" and it will force PIN unlock. Great if you aren't able to physically touch the phone.
Or use wrong finger for multiple times untill its locked out with pin password
Careful locking your device before the cops get there. It could be considered tampering with evidence.
Got any evidence to back that up?
Not anymore, they tampered with it
🤣
Source: his arse?
Even then, in his arse, they'd have to prove the person locked it.
But what's worse, getting a tampering with evidence charge, or giving them everything?
Still would like to see his source.
The source:
In the States police can bust you on false charges and it will typically (but not always) fly in court.
They also have strong phone cracking software, despite what FBI says about piles of evidence locked away in phones.
Evidence is not a thing until you are at least accused of a crime or detained.
That's not completely true. In most states if they are knocking down your door with a search warrant and you flush a kilo of heroin down the toilet, you're getting an evidence tampering charge that will hold up in court.
They would have to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that you only flushed it after hearing them knock on the door.
There's a whole lot of caselaw surrounding this, and they will get someone to destroy the pipes to find out when they were flushed (their word goes, good luck finding someone impartial to say that wasn't what happened). I wish court cases were built on 1's and 0's like computer code but that's just not the way the world works.
Even if this is true, and I'm not arguing that it isn't, if you've committed a different crime with a worse punishment, you'll have to take that into consideration.