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A comment on Teenager jailed for refusing to hand over computer password. Parent comment

Re:Teenager jailed for refusing to hand over computer password by sp4rki on Wednesday October 27, 2010 @04:49PM (#1840378)
If the law sees it as anything other than what it is, a separation between what my data is and the fact that it belongs to me, in contrast to where it is stored, it will probably open a a big ass can of worms. Might as well change the name of the USA to North Korean States of America.

My opinion: If I write a poem in a notebook (hard drive) using a cipher (encryption) for which only I know the key, the law is able to take my notebook as evidence and process it as they see fit for their investigation, but the data is still mine, it's my set of bits which I'm entitled to not share with anyone unless it's my desire. I'd even say that to force me to share my data is equal to torturing me to get information from me. In both cases the law would be forcing me to reveal something against my consent, which is a violation of my rights however you look at it.

YMMV of course.

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Re:Teenager jailed for refusing to hand over computer password by aplusbi on Wednesday October 27, 2010 @06:16PM (#1840701)
This is sort of why I think it may come down to your choice of algorithms. For example, let's say I buy a hypothetical external hard drive. This external drive has built in encryption, and I have to enter a password using a keypad on the drive before I can mount it. Should I be legally compelled to enter the combination?
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Re:Teenager jailed for refusing to hand over computer password by sp4rki on Wednesday October 27, 2010 @11:32PM (#1841594)
Not in the USA. 5th amendment and all.
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Re:Teenager jailed for refusing to hand over computer password by aplusbi on Thursday October 28, 2010 @01:50PM (#1843993)
While I agree with you and believe that the 5th amendment does protect you in theory, this hasn't really been tested in US courts. The law may decide that encryption is a safe rather than a language. In that case the 5th amendment won't protect you. Hopefully that won't be the case.
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