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+ - Is Biometrics Covered Under the 5th Amendment?-> 1

Submitted by scottmatrix
scottmatrix writes "Few years ago, there was a legal case where a U.S. Federal Court ruled that the accused does not have to turn over the passphrase of his encrypted laptop to prosecutors. The ruling was based on the 5th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution which protects the right of the accused to avoid self-incrimination.

If a passphrase is projected under the 5th Amendment, can it also be inferred that a finger swipe on the fingerprint reader is protected under the constitution?"
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Is Biometrics Covered Under the 5th Amendment? More

Is Biometrics Covered Under the 5th Amendment?

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  • I wonder... if DNA is not protected under the 5th amendment, why would biometrics? It's essentially the same sort of thing, a biological measurement is taken of a subject in order to convict the same subject of a crime. I don't really see how DNA evidence can be considered legal, if biometric evidence cannot be used to unlock a computer. BTW, almost all encryption schemes in the U.S. have some type of DoD workaround that lets the government decrypt data. I'm sure this is no surprise.

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