01.08.2017 - 18:37 [ Techdirt ]

Australian Prosecutors Want To Make It Illegal To Refuse To Turn Over Passwords To Law Enforcement

The question is still unsettled here in the United States: is refusing to turn over your password protected by the Fifth Amendment? The argument hasn‘t found many judicial supporters but at least there‘s a Constitutional basis for claiming the relinquishment of passwords is possibly self-incriminating. Over in Australia, the rights aren‘t so clearly defined. But the picture is getting clearer, thanks to legislators seeking to make it a criminal offense to withhold passwords.