Source: Reason
by Patrick Eddington & James Craven
“The amount of personal data we keep on our smartphones is almost immeasurable, a reality the Supreme Court recognized in 2014 when it ruled that police must comply with the Fourth Amendment warrant requirement to search your device. But your phone has a simpler safeguard: a password that, under the Fifth Amendment, you shouldn’t have to reveal unless the government overcomes your right against self-incrimination. … Unfortunately, the current state of Fifth Amendment case law is a mess. For one, a handful of courts have given police a loophole to your right against compelled testimony by reasoning that your password adds ‘little or nothing to the sum total of the Government’s information’ because police already know your password exists, just not what it is. This twisted reasoning ignores that police have no idea what’s on your phone without the password.” (10/14/24)
https://reason.com/2024/10/14/police-want-the-password-to-your-phone/