Virginia judge rules cops can make you unlock your iPhone if you use Touch ID
Posted by: Timothy Weaver on 11/01/2014 11:41 AM [ Comments ]
A Virginia court ruled that although police can't force you to give up your smartphone password, they can make you slap your finger onto your Apple Touch ID device to unlock it.
It is an odd loophole. On the one hand, the Fifth Amendment protects you from offering knowledge that could incriminate yourself. That includes your password. However, you can be required to turn over physical evidence or DNA information. In the Virginia case, the judge ruled that a fingerprint is considered a physical object -- and police are allowed to force you to give it to them.
The ruling comes from a court case where emergency medical services captain David Baust was charged with attempting to strangle his girlfriend. Prosecutors wanted access to his locked phone to look for videos. It's not clear how the ruling will affect the case. One the one hand, if his phone is protected by Touch ID, prosecutors can access it. But if it is protected by a passcode or both a passcode and Touch ID, they can't.
Marcia Hofmann predicted this ruling. He said: "We can't invoke the privilege against self-incrimination to prevent the government from collecting biometrics like fingerprints, DNA samples, or voice exemplars."
The workaround for this ruling is to turn off your phone when approached by police. That would require you to enter your four-digit pin when you turn it back on, even if you use Touch ID.
It is an odd loophole. On the one hand, the Fifth Amendment protects you from offering knowledge that could incriminate yourself. That includes your password. However, you can be required to turn over physical evidence or DNA information. In the Virginia case, the judge ruled that a fingerprint is considered a physical object -- and police are allowed to force you to give it to them.
The ruling comes from a court case where emergency medical services captain David Baust was charged with attempting to strangle his girlfriend. Prosecutors wanted access to his locked phone to look for videos. It's not clear how the ruling will affect the case. One the one hand, if his phone is protected by Touch ID, prosecutors can access it. But if it is protected by a passcode or both a passcode and Touch ID, they can't.
Marcia Hofmann predicted this ruling. He said: "We can't invoke the privilege against self-incrimination to prevent the government from collecting biometrics like fingerprints, DNA samples, or voice exemplars."
The workaround for this ruling is to turn off your phone when approached by police. That would require you to enter your four-digit pin when you turn it back on, even if you use Touch ID.
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