FBI Forces Arrested To Unlock iPhone With Touch ID

For the first time in a federal case, a suspect has been forced to use his fingerprint to unlock his Touch ID-protected iPhone. As reported by the LA Times, a federal judge has signed an order allowing the FBI force a suspect to unlock your iPhone 45 minutes after his arrest. Two years ago a Virginia district court ruled that while access codes are protected by the 5th Amendment (right to plead guilty), fingerprints are not. However, some legal experts have different points of view.

Currently fingerprints are considered as a physical or real evidence that allows the authorities access them without having to request a court order. However, some legal professionals claim that this view has become outdated as a fingerprint can provide access to data that may incriminate the suspect.

According to Susan Brenner, a law professor at the University of Dayton who studies the nexus of digital technology and criminal law 'It's not about fingerprints and biometric readers. The data stored in the devices can store a lot of information that can become compromising for the owner, be it photos, videos, conversations ... »

However Albert Gidari, director of privacy at Stanford Law School, claims that this action could not violate the fifth amendment before the prohibition to blame himself. Unlike revealing the passwords, the suspect is not obliged to provide the passwords or to say what is going through our heads. In this case our finger is not a testimony or something that incriminates us.

What is clear is that from the FBI's request for the Cupertino people to unlock the device used in the San Bernardino attacks, many rivers of ink will flow. between defense attorneys and judges, which will force the government to adapt the laws to new technologies if they do not want to start falling into legal battles that can last for years.