DENVER—A federal judge has ordered a woman to provide an unencrypted version of her laptop’s hard drive in a ruling that raises the question of whether turning over a password amounts to self-incrimination.
The Denver Post reports ( ) that U.S. District Judge Robert Blackburn ruled Monday that requiring Ramona Fricosu to provide the contents of her computer doesn’t violated the Constitution’s Fifth Amendment protections. Blackburn says the content of the computer adds nothing to what the government already knows.
Friscosu’s attorney, Philip Dubois, says he plans to appeal.
Prosecutors say allowing criminal defendants to beat search warrants by encrypting their computers would make it impossible to obtain evidence. Civil-liberties groups across the country are opposing the government. They’re calling it a test of rights against self-incrimination in a digital world.
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Information from: The Denver Post,
