Smartphones have taken over our lives faster than the law is able to deal with. For a few years now, it’s been kind of an open legal question whether or not law enforcement can force you to provide them with the password or PIN you use to unlock your phone. A few previous courts have ruled no, that having to provide your passcode is tantamount to self-incriminating testimony. But recently, an appeals court in Florida has found the other way. [More]
fifth amendment
Feds Use Search Warrant To Make Everyone In Building Unlock Their Phones
By 10.19.16
If the cops show up with a search warrant, well, you expect they can search the premises. But showing up with a warrant that says every single person on a certain property has to unlock their fingerprint-reading phones and present them for search, too? That’s… pretty surprising. And yet, it turns out, earlier this year, that’s what happened in California. [More]
Former AIG CEO Wins Lawsuit Claiming Bailout Was Illegal, But Gets No Payout
By 6.15.15
Nearly four years ago, as America was still crawling out of the crater left by the collapse of the economy, a former CEO of AIG — a company whose name had become synonymous with the crash — sued the federal government over the bailout, alleging that the government had violated shareholders’ Fifth Amendment rights. Today, a court sided with wealthy investor Maurice “Hank” Greenberg, but he won’t be getting any damages because the company would have gone bankrupt without the bailout. [More]
Can Police Force You To Unlock Your Phone With Fingerprint?
By 11.5.14
While the Supreme Court recently made it very clear that police can’t look at the contents of a suspect’s phone without a warrant, what remains unresolved is whether or not authorities with a warrant can then compel a suspect to unlock his/her phone. And does it make a difference if that unlocking involves a fingerprint instead of a passcode? [More]
