Cops can force suspect to unlock phone with thumbprint, US court rules
Cops can force suspect to unlock phone with thumbprint, US court rules
arstechnica.com
Cops can force suspect to unlock phone with thumbprint, US court rules
40 comments
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Never use biometrics to lock anything. You can be forced to push a finger to a sensor, or your head forcibly held still for a facial scan.
Only use passwords/passcords. only they are secure against this totalitarian bullshit.
They'll still put you in jail on fake charges if you refuse to give your passcode, but at least your datas safe and now your case is unlawful imprisonment instead of relying on octogenarian judges thinking its okay to force compliance with a biometric.
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This ⬆️
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I feel like this has always been the case? There's not a lot of precedence to be sure, but people have been operating under that assumption for a long time.
That's why, if you need to keep the cops from looking in your phone, you should use a password. Can't be compelled to give a password.
The classic example is a safe. There's tons of court precedence that you can be compelled to give the cops a physical key to unlock it if there is one, but you can't be compelled to tell them the combo if it's a dial lock.
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Is this some weird free speech thing?
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Nah, it's the 5th Amendment. The right against self incrimination. You can't be forced to testify against yourself.
Basically, I can't put you on the stand in the court room and be like, "did you do it?"
You're always aloud to just stay silent and make the prosecution have to prove their case without your help.
But they are allowed to search you physically and take any physical things they want as evidence, be it a ring of keys or your fingerprint.
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But Gym Jordan can ignore a congressional subpoena. Chyea I'm not giving my thumbprint.
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So when comes the ruling that they can just straight up execute you without having to do the hustle of a fake investigation on themselves?
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Justice has a price. That price is freedom
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Is there a way to set up multiple user profiles for the same phone, activated by different prints/PINs?
Then you could have your main profile unlocked by like your ring finger print; but if you scan your thumb or index, it'll unlock basically a dummy account with some bullshit apps and contacts and nothing else.
Like the phone equivalent of a throw wallet with a few bucks and an expired credit card or two so you have something to surrender in the event of getting mugged, without losing anything of actual value.
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BlackBerry devices had this.
They had a “under duress but unlock” PIN and a “under duress and wipe device now” PIN. You needed their enterprise management server to configure it.
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this is the way.
regardless of what the law says, at least where i live, cops will compel you to unlock it anyway if they decide to. this feature is a must.
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I don't know of how to do that without visibly switching accounts, but I believe the GrapheneOS folks are prepping a "duress PIN" for the next major release. I'm not 100% sure of what it entails but could have a similar end result to what you're after
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Don't use biometrics.
Period.
Full stop.
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Biometrics are fine, just use lockdown of you get pulled over or are going throgh TSA.
You can still activate the camera/camcoder by double tapping power on a Pixel even in lockdown.
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Don't use fingerprint to unlock phone. They can force your fingerprint, but they can't force your password .... So just use a password. Problem solved
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They can beat the shit out of you - along with the password
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Clearly we need a finger print to wipe it.
Thumb to open, middle to initiate wipe.
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Power+volume up > lockdown
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Didn't work for me
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Luckily LineageOS and GrapheneOS have a lockdown mode (Graphene also supports disabling fingerprint for screen unlock), though rebooting your phone usually doesn't cause you to loose any work since everything autosaves as phones kill background apps to save battery and memory. Separate user profiles for situations like protests or certain contexts (preferably with some dummy data to make it not look to sus) are also useful.
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to lose* any work
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Fuck America
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Passcode, baby, I’m coming back to you!
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OR you could carry a knife with you and chop off your thumb if they try to arrest you
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Nah, then they get you for littering and open the phone.
You have to walk around with a hotplate so you can sear your fingerprints off.
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FYI for iPhone users if you run into the Fuzz and you need to lock it out of biometrics, hit the lock button five times. This will start the emergency call count down but once canceled the iPhone can only be opened via passcode. Caveat, you need to have the five press to call turned on in Settings>Emergency SOS>Call with 5 Button presses
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What an awful day.
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What happened to being secure in our documents and personal affects?
Is the constitution a joke to you?
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In this case, the defendant was on parole, so there was already a court order allowing the search of his devices.
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Pro-tip: get a folding phone and use biometrics happily. If the cops come for you. Snap it in half. /S
40 comments
There was already a case with this same fingerprint outcome a few years ago. Biometrics are not protected from seizure.
However, passcodes still are. Last time I checked you cannot be compelled to surrender your passcode locking your phone.
Which is also why both iPhone and Android have panic modes.
For my android, if I rapidly tap the fingerprint reader or the power key five times in a row, it locks down and will only be unlocked with a password.
You can also just hold the power key and shut the phone down, because it's pretty standard now that upon a reboot you have to put in the pin first before you can use fingerprint.
When you are encountering police that would be seizing your phone in the near future, I HIGHLY RECOMMEND AGAINST quickly shoving your hand in your pocket to try to lock your phone.
Stay out of my luggage!
This is becoming a grey area.
In several states, especially where CBP is involved, there are legitimate challenges to this protetion.
Even so, biometrics SHOULD be protected under 5th amendment. The fact that it isnt seems very anti-freedom.
Make your password "I'll never tell" so when they ask for it, you can give it to them without lying but they still won't know it.