US 11 Circ: 5th Am. & passphrase demands

reynt0 reynt0 at cs.albany.edu
Fri Feb 24 22:46:25 CET 2012


On Thu, 23 Feb 2012, Robert J. Hansen wrote:
> The United States 11th Circuit Court of Appeals, which is one small step
> away from the United States Supreme Court, has issued a decision in
> connection to a grand jury's subpoena requiring the appellant to produce
> unencrypted copies of six hard drives.
  . . .
> The court sided with the appellant, and held that he could not be
> compelled to produce decrypted data for the government.
>
> Now, this isn't quite a black-and-white issue.
  . . .
> 	http://www.ca11.uscourts.gov/opinions/ops/201112268.pdf

Interesting cite.  So this is what the USA "Miranda" warning
("You have the right to remain silent.  Whatever you say
may be used against you.") is all about.  The USA Fifth
Amendment protects the right to remain silent on a topic
(here, decryption of something), and also protects the
ideas one might state on a topic if the Government learns 
one's ideas as a result of giving one special protection
for not remaining silent (here, whatever would be found by
decryption if the Government does not independently already
know pretty much what it is).



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