“A Virginia circuit court judge ruled this week that smartphone users can be compelled to give up their fingerprint, but not their passcodes, allowing police to search their devices,” Zack Whittaker reports for ZDNet.
“A fingerprint — used by a number of devices, like the latest iPhones, iPads, and Samsung Galaxy phones and tablets — does not fall within these protections, which Judge Steven C. Frucci likened it to handing over a DNA sample,” Whittaker reports. “There is a caveat, however. If a device is locked by both a fingerprint and a passcode, the passcode wins, meaning the device is protected.”
Read more in the full article here.
Related articles:
Apple’s Touch ID may mean U.S. iPhone 5s users can’t ‘take the fifth’ – September 12, 2013
Apple changes the world again, propels biometrics into the mainstream with iPhone 5s’ Touch ID – September 12, 2013
THE SOLUTION: If you’re determined to not unlock your iPhone for the folks in blue who protect our citizen rights (we wish):
Set up TWO-Factor authentication. Require BOTH your fingerprint AND a passcode. No one can (legally) compel a US citizen to hand over their passcode. Invoke the Fifth Amendment to the US Constitution.
OR: Don’t do bad stuff and you don’t have to worry about this issue one way or another. (And NO, that’s not an excuse for demolishing the Fourth amendment to the US Constitution).
If you don’t know what I’m talking about (and shockingly, many US citizens don’t), hopefully you can read:
http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/constitution.html