A Virginia Beach Circuit Court judge ruled that law enforcement officials can compel you to unlock your smartphone with a fingerprint, but that they can't force you to enter in your passcode or password to unlock your device. Judge Steven Frucci says that obtaining a fingerprint is like obtaining a DNA sample or a physical key, things that would have to be surrendered in an investigation anyways. Passcodes would be considered knowledge, and not a physical object, so they deserve more protection under the law.
The ruling arose from a case surrounding Emergency Medical Services tech David Baust, who was charged for strangling his girlfriend. The attorney for Baust tried to stop authorities from gaining access to his phone, where he may have stored video footage of the alleged crime.
Do you secure your phone with a fingerprint ID? What do you think of the ruling? Will you switch back to using a PIN?
Source: Mashable
Reader comments
Court rules that cops can compel you to surrender your fingerprint to unlock iPhone
Probably won't switch back to using a pin. I'll just be sure to not have videos of that nature on my phone.
Sent from the iMore App
Well if you commit a crime they should be able to get to your phone. If you're dumb enough to have evidence incriminating yourself, well shouldn't have committed the crime..
Sent from the iMore App
Wow, that "If you've done nothing wrong, you've got nothing to worry about" bit again. Because we all know cops and DAs and judges are soooo trustworthy. Why shouldn't we just hand over everything in advance and save everyone the time?
If you are dumb enough to have something on your phone incriminating you of something illegal, well that's your own fault. Even if you "get arrested" and have nothing on your phone, what's to worry about? I never said everyone is trustworthy, but makes it a lot harder to be convicted of a crime
Sent from the iMore App
It's not that we trust them. We just realize that they have better things to do than to randomly get warrants to open strangers' phones. What are the hoping to find? you can get an infinite amount of nudes online for free, so they wouldn't be excited to see that on your phone. Everything else on the phone can probably be found on social media, so a simple google search can get them that info. The absolute worst thing that can happen to an upstanding citizen is that their time is wasted while the cops search the phone, but cops already have the power to waste people's time for no reason, so that's nothing new.
In the end, there's absolutely no reason for me to be uncomfortable with my phone being searched. Do I want it to be searched? No. It would be a waste of my time. However, there's no way that cops can get a warrant to search it because I haven't done anything wrong. I firmly believe that a random cop won't find the prospect of seeing my selfies worth the trouble of going through the judicial system.
Technically you have to be proven guilty in a court of law to consider the crime committed. I think you're going more with "probable cause".
This is part of gathering evidence. You can't establish whether a person has committed a crime until there are legal proceedings. In most cases this unlocking is part of evidence gathering as it was i this situation. So be careful not to leap to the conclusion that a person is guilty and than use that leap to justify an action. That's how racial profiling works. A cop says well assumes someone of a certain race commits a crime and thus skips the step of getting cause or a warrant to search or seize. You don't say, "He's guilty" thus "it's lawful to search." The process goes "I have cause" or "I have a warrant" "thus it's lawful to search" Then you have a legal process to determine guilt.
Your a douch bag
Two things don't put incriminating stuff on your phone and turn it off if they physically accost you because it requires the passcode to turn back on not the print. Granted, you lose the chance to video the arrest but that was probably gone anyway.
Ah, a very good point!
Touch ID is way too convenient for me to turn it off. Besides, if I were under arrest for something I would unlock the phone myself to prove I have nothing to hide. Sick folks in the world I hope they got the evidence they needed though I wouldn't want to have to be the one to find it and watch it. Terrible.
Sent from the iMore App
Lol. Good luck on "proving you have nothing to hide".
Must be nice to be THAT SMART.
Sent from the iMore App
Make a long passcode and turn off your phone if you ever encounter police. Also have your phone wiped if ten wrong attempts are made.
Well... I have no current plans to strangle my girlfriend.. So i guess ill keep using the touch id...
Sent from the iMore App
Remember to disable it if you ever do concoct any plans to strangle her!
Sent from the iMore App
The judge could issue a subpoena if they had reasonable cause to search his phone. Like if a 3rd party said, "He showed me this video on his phone." Or "I witnessed him recording the event on his phone." If the cops just THINKS there COULD be something incriminating in his phone, that's complete bs. A cop can break into a phone like they can break into your house. But there must be due process. Don't think a passcode will save you if you have something to hide. Not making tracks is easier than covering them.
Sent from the iMore App
I'm thinking this will lose when appealed. If my fingerprint unlocks the phone, and the phone has incriminating evidence of my involvement, that's a violation of my 5th Amendment rights. Clearly a case of the law not keeping pace with technology.
Posted via iMore App
They can already take your computer if they have a warrant to search for kiddie porn or whatever. Your phone is a computer. Having said that, I've never heard of someone having to provide a passcode for unlocking that computer. To me in this instance the fingerprint needs to be defined as a passcode.
They are mixing metaphors here, taking the phone as a computer and also using the legacy of taking fingerprints and applying that to being able to force you to unlock the phone. I don't like this only because the judge is making law with a loose interpretation here and that is not his job.
So given they have a warrant for your phone I don't think they should be allowed to force you to unlock it with your fingerprint because in this case the fingerprint is the unlock code. Let them take your fingerprint the usual way and crack the phone with that fingerprint. There is supposed to be a method for doing so. Let them jump through those hoops.
Note, you said "with a warrant." I have no problem with that. My issue is with a cop pulling me over and then deciding to check my phone.
I won't be switching. Why would I use a device for a crime that can be traced?
TouchID is extremely convenient, so I'll never turn it off. It's not like I'll ever have a problem with this because I don't commit crimes and am never in trouble with the police. If an officer ever did ask me to unlock my phone I'd do it with no problem because all they'd find is TV apps and pictures of my dog.
Sent from the iMore App
Lol. And:
Everyone you called.
Everyone you texted.
Every Internet search.
Every email.
Every place you've been.
Every password.
Every picture.
Sent from the iMore App
You can make an unlock attempt with the touch ID while you are holding the off button... That will reset the device and require to input the pin. You can refuse and hope nobody will charge the device until it turns itself off.... So you need the passcode again... But sure you are better off if you just unlock if they ask.... Unless you have something to hide.
It isn't just a matter of having something to hide. What if an unscrupulous cop is willing to plant evidence on your unlocked phone? Besides, "something to hide" is not equivalent to illegal activity. California cops who confiscated phones from attractive women downloaded their nude photos and shared freely with other cops, etc. They had something to hide, but it was the police who violated their right to privacy.
Saying "I have nothing to hide" is akin to saying "I don't care about my right to privacy."
There are simple solutions, don't commit crimes and if you do, don't store the evidence on your phone
Sent from the iMore App
Simple, "attempt" to unlock using a finger not registered with Touch ID. After 5 attempts, password is required. Now they can't get in.
The issue about protecting privacy. I have nothing to hide, but that doesn't meant I'm going to let a police officer in my house just because the officer asks to come inside. It doesn't matter if they say it makes me look suspicious. I have rights that I will insist on maintaining.
Haha...Apple Pay with Touch ID is secure, but this is so ironic they can force you to unlock it using it yet not force you to put in a PIN. :)
Sent from the iMore App
With all this being said, it should be noted that Apple requires you to also have a passcode set in addition to a fingerprint. There are certain instances when the phone will not accept your fingerprint, only the passcode. The first being right when it is turned on. At startup, iPhones require the passcode and will not accept a fingerprint. The other case is after too many failed fingerprint attempts. After 7 or so failures to scan the finger, the phone will require the passcode. The phone WILL NEVER accept a fingerprint after this if the passcode is not entered.
So, if someone was in this situation, they could easily tell the police the incorrect finger(s) and the phone will lock the fingerprint sensor out. I think it would be hilarious to see happen. But it would probably result in some sort of additional criminal charges like interfering with justice or police.
It actually would probably be best to register a finger that is usually not used for TouchID. If you're in police custody and use your pinkie to try to unlock it, they'll probably know something is up. But if the real one that actually unlocks it is the pinkie of your non dominant hand, it would look more like it wasn't working when you use your index finger.
But if you shut your phone down (not just put to sleep)... on start up... it requires a PIN... Finger print won't open the phone... so couldn't you just shut it down.
they can try to force me to use my fingerprints, but i'll just be sure to burn all of them off right after i commit a crime! take that coppers!
If you are going to the point of doing stuff like that, then you should have more secure things, like a password, anyways, and if the authorities demand your fingerprint I gues you can always "accidentally" mess up with your fingerprint, get 5 try agains, and get finger print disabled that way
Or turn your phone off so that when it restarts it needs a passcode
Only in Virginia smh
Sent from the iMore App
Sadly the cops that work in a neighbourhood I frequent will beat you up and force you to unlock anyway. Luckily I'm not a murderer or engaged in illegal activity.
I won't be switching back to a pin. Plus TouchID is super convenient. I also don't feel I'll be having a run in with the law any time soon- nor do I have any dodgy information/content on my devices.
Great ways to avoid incriminating yourself.
1.) 10 Failed attempts then erase.
2.) Power down phone if police show up.
What if I'm unlucky, and neither options were able to be done?
-Judge/Law Enforcement: "I order you to surrender your fingerprint."
-Me: "Ok".
(Hmm, now WHICH finger did I use...?")
Sent from the iMore App
Now since I have the 10 attempt reset. Let's say they know for a fact, I use my thumb. Thus order me to use the correct one.
"Oh darn, my finger print isnt being red right. 1...2...3...4...Whoops! Master reset."
Sent from the iMore App
If he filmed it, you have one deranged person out there. If it is on the phone, is it in photo stream? icloud? Video evidence is damming in court. Depending on what it is, it can show motive, and premeditation. What bugs me in these situations, everybody talks about rights, but the rights of the victim are thrown aside. In this case, the only way the victim can be heard, is through the video. Reference wiping the phone's memory, I wonder what could be pulled off one in that case. A computer tech once said if you want to wipe a hard drive, erase it, take it out of the computer, put it in the microwave, and the throw it in the river, and hope it's not found, because they could still get information off it. That was years ago when the technology was just beginning to read hard drives. I do not believe any device is totally secure when it comes to its information. Look at our group. Go to any story, click on any name in the discussions, and there will be the post we have said in the past. Makes you wonder what the courts, or jury would think of our conversations if we were accused of a crime? No matter the security, and no matter what a judge, or the courts say. Anything you put out there, be it pictures, videos, or written word, it can be seen, and used for, or against you.
Sent from the iMore App
They would have to cut off my finger before they would get my finger print. No law enforcement people are entitled to see anything on my iPhone or either of my two Macs, which are both protected with File Vault. I'm not guilty of any crimes, so they're not getting anything from me.
We'll see how well that works when they have a warrant.
Sent from the iMore App
So here's a question for all of you who think this is no big deal since you've likely committed no crime:
Would you allow the police to just show up at your house, without a search warrant, and go through your photo albums, bank accounts, browser history, email, personal letters, etc? You'd just open the door and welcome them in, even if they give you no reason whatsoever for their search? Because that's what it sounds like all of you are OK with.
As for me, they can get my fingerprint to open my phone after a judge issues a warrant based on probably cause. Until then, sorry. And thankfully the Supreme Court backed up that very stance last term. So I'm not sure what this judge was thinking.
I think it is naive to assume you don't have anything to worry about if you haven't committed a crime. Activities that police and other government agencies consider their business include many that are legal or constitutionally protected.
While I agree that people shouldn't commit any crimes, much less record them, this still violates our Constitutional rights, because this is exactly like police just breaking down your front door because they /think/ you might've done something illegal or other have evidence of a crime contained within your homestead.
No, these actions require a search warrant, and a fingerprint should be the same. Other have posted some tips on how to lock down iOS to not accept any fingerprints, but be careful: That could be found to be infringing with justice or tampering with evidence.
I don't have anything suspicious or illegal on my phone, but I do have my whole life on there. That includes all my photos, passwords, payment info, every text message I've sent or received in the past year, my email accounts, etc. Just because I don't have anything "bad" on there, doesn't mean I want people to just be able to sift through it at their leisure.
It wouldn't matter even if you did have anything "bad" on there; we have laws in this country, and the police are just as bound by those as you and I are. And as the law now stands, they cannot compel you to give up the data on your phone without a search warrant.
Better 99 guilty persons go free than one innocent person be convicted. Our entire criminal justice system is built around that concept. Now, whether or not that's how the police and DAs and judges act, that's another question.
Whether it's fingerprint or pin code, both are used for the same thing: to secure personal data. And the Supreme Court ruled on this last term. You can't be forced to open your phone for police without a search warrant:
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/26/us/supreme-court-cellphones-search-pri...
I am not going to commit a crime that would have any evidence on my phone. OK I don't really plan on committing any crime. If you are dumb enough to use your phone to video a crime that you are committing, you deserve to get arrested.
I guess it's the same for all those actresses who had their nude photos leaked recently, huh? If they hadn't wanted their photos spread across the internet for the world to see, they shouldn't have taken them?
It's called privacy, and everyone is entitled to it. If the police want to violate my right to privacy, they better go through the courts and get a search warrant based on probable cause.
Judicial law enforcement. Gotta love this country.
I will keep the touch ID unlock , and and if something happens the necessitates handing over my phone, I'll just remote wipe it after I hand it over.
You can't remote wipe it if they take out the SIM
As a couple of people have pointed, fingerprint by itself stops working the moment the iPhone is powered down. So unless you believe the cops were well organized and aware enough to never let the phone battery run down and at the same time kept it in a Faraday cage or at least pulled the SIM* to avoid remote wipe...
Basically chances of the fingerprint working a very close to zero.
*Dear Apple: require a passcode to unlock the second the SIM has been pulled if you don't do so already.
Here are some instances where it might not be such a good idea to let the police go through your phone because "I've not done anything wrong":
-pictures of your kids playing innocently in the bathtub
-texts between friends joking about doing something illegal
-someone from a suspicious number misdialed your phone
-personal, compromising pictures from you or a significant other
Any and all of those situations, plus a myriad more, could cause you a lot of grief with an overzealous police. So be careful about placing the them on a pedestal and voluntarily handing over your personal information thinking you've done nothing wrong.
Yeah pretty much, we all have probably broken laws on our phones. I know for a fact I have (I'm 18 my girlfriend is not... Yeahhh) but those pictures are actually on my device only. Or they were. Deleted. But still, a lot of people don't clear out things like this. Or for Android users, how often do you clear out your downloads folder? Suddenly that free song doesn't seem worth it. If you're rude enough to a cop they will find something to bring you down.
Posted via the 5s I'm not ashamed of using in my home.
"If you're rude enough to a cop they will find something to bring you down."
You hit the nail on the head. I doubt any policeman who is taking the time to look through your phone is interested in letting you go without something to hang on you. And an 18-year-old guy dating a 17-year-old girl would be a prime example of their ability to f*$k up your life for a long long time.
Cardinal Richelieu, known most nowadays for being the bad guy in the Three Musketeers but a real-life politician famous for centralizing authority and crushing opposition in France, (reportedly) said it best:
"If you give me six lines written by the hand of the most honest of men, I will find something in them which will hang him."
If a fingerprint would have to be given anyway, then I'd say they can have it in the traditional way: on paper or Livescan. Not via my phone.
I hope this is being appealed!
If you use touchID, and you get stopped by the police-- Power Off your phone.
Now it can't be accessed without your pin/pass.
However, you'd be wise to keep another recording device on hand, whether it be audio or video... you know just in case.
Im just curious, but couldnt you say you already completed the request for the finger print because when you are arrested they book you and part of the process is taking fingerprints...
those are two different things. They can take your information during booking you because they are identifying you and taking your identifying information. With this are effecting a probable cause search or a warrant search.
Just another reason why everyone should jailbreak. Right thumb unlocks device. Left thumb reboots. F the police! And to all of the apologists commenting here: cops break the law at a higher rate than the average citizen. Google "cops stealing nude photos from phones".
Careful. You could end up being charged with destruction of evidence.
AHHHHHH NO!!!!!!!!
Sent from the iMore App
Makes sense if there is cause or a warrant. Shouldn't be surprised. It's like compelling someone to turn over a door key to effect a search of their home.
They are ever so gradually taking away our rights!
Sent from the iMore App