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Comment by clipradiowallet | Hacker News Reader

FWIW, I've had a warrant executed against me by the FBI. They seized every electronic device I own, and forcibly took my biometric data(fingerprints, face scan, retinal scan) in the hopes they could unlock my devices with it. They were unable to access any LUKS-encrypted volumes, and were less than happy about that situation. Can't say much else unless I'm good with 99x anxiety for the next few days.

ps: not charged, not convicted, very innocent. not a fan of the justice dept.

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Very depressing how in the UK you could've been forced to disclose your password under section 49 of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act, and gotten even 5 years jail time if you refused. I presume there isn't a US equivalent?

It's complicated. There's no specific law in the US regarding key disclosure, but you can be punished for e.g. contempt of court, maybe spoliation. In theory, the Fifth Amendment should protect individuals from self-incrimination, but courts have ruled that forcing people to disclose keys is not that.

See In re Boucher for a case where Fifth Amendment protections were not upheld and US v. Doe for a case where they were.

The Boucher case is special because the ruling held that Boucher had waived fifth amendment rights for the computer by showing some of it to law enforcement. If you exercise your fifth from the start I do not believe you can be compelled to provide the state with passwords, although they can use your biometric data.

The highest-ruling decision so far doesn't allow biometric use: https://www.usnews.com/news/national-news/articles/2019-01-1...

Do you happen to know the case regarding the biometric data?

How about that you really don't know the passwords? By using RAM as USB with battery to store your passwords. Whenever unplug the USB, the passwords exist until out of battery. After that, everything vanished.

What if you "forgot" the password?

In the US, contempt of court is a possible outcome.

What software do you use to encrypt your phone and computer?

My phone at the time was a stock Android device with encryption enabled. Computers were all linux with LUKS encrypted volumes.

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