Re:EFF: forced disclosure of encryption password violates 5t...
by tzs on Saturday July 09, 2011 @01:33AM
(#2745100)
Knowing the password to encrypted data does NOT prove that the data is yours. People often know other people's passwords.
Re:EFF: forced disclosure of encryption password violates 5t...
by WettowelReactor on Saturday July 09, 2011 @02:46AM
(#2745188)
If the data is incriminating then you may be just as liable under the law.
Any discussion of a physical key is without merit. A physical key, is not the same as a "encryption key". For the purpose of law, an "encryption key" is the same as a combination to a safe.
There's actually a ton of precedents on this. Google 5th amendment and combination lock.
The reason it is testimony is because if you provide a password and it works then you've just proven that the contents are yours: you have incriminated yourself. If the prosecution can prove that the contents are yours without the password, then at that point you can be forced to give up the password.
Takeway: your encrypted drive had better have a different password than your login, and you'd better be able to deny that it is yours.
EFF will win.