Judge: Fifth Amendment does not protect encrypted hard drives

Posted on January 24, 2012 in Networks by dulce303

data, decrypt, Dulce, encrypted, federal judge, Fifth Amendment

A federal judge has ruled that a Colorado woman can be compelled to decrypt her encrypted laptop so that the police can inspect it for incriminating evidence. The woman, Ramona Fricosu, is a defendant in a mortgage scam case. She had argued that the Fifth amendment’s privilege against self-incrimination protected her from having to disclose the password to her hard drive, which was encrypted using PGP Desktop. Read More…