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by CiPHPerCoder 2323 days ago
No, it's not more like making you open a safe.

Telling someone the encryption key is being compelled to act as a witness against yourself, which the 5th amendment provides protection against (if used).
1 comments
JoeSmithson 2323 days ago
No it's not. The information you provide (the password) is not admitted as evidence in the trial. It's more like being compelled to act as a confidential informant against yourself.

There's no prospect of this being used to bring about a wrongful conviction through coercing a confession.

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adgasf 2322 days ago
If the key is not evidence then how can they prove that they got the incriminating files from the encrypted drive?
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JoeSmithson 2322 days ago
A forensic scientist would testify that they extracted the files from there.

It is exactly the same as when a confidential source gives up an address (for example) the source never gets into evidence.

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CiPHPerCoder 2322 days ago
The whole point of strong encryption is to prevent adversaries (including forensic scientists) from extracting any information without possession of the key.

If the key involves a password that you, a human, have memorized in your squishy pink organ, it's privileged under the Fifth Amendment. (This hasn't been tested in court yet, of course. There's no precedent to fall back on.)

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