smithmi@dev.prodigy.com (Michael Smith) said:
9. Subject to legal privileges or protection, most legal systems permit investigating authorities to order persons to hand over objects under their control that are required to serve as evidence. In a parallel fashion, provisions should be made for the power to order persons to submit any specified data under their control in a computer system in the form required by the investigating authority. ________________________________________________________________________ Is this 'what we would want'? It clearly means that one can be ordered to reveal the password to encrypted data and punished by law if one refuses.
MS> Forgive me if this point has already been raised, but couldn't an MS> objection to such laws be based on the protection against MS> self-incrimination? MS> Maybe this all depends on whether the legal context is a civil or a MS> criminal proceeding. If I'm being sued and they ask me at a MS> deposition whether I did such-and-such, I can't take the Fifth (or MS> can I?). But if I'm accused of murder, the police can't make me tell MS> them where I've buried the knife. However, if I have a wall safe and MS> they get a warrant to search it, can I be jailed for contempt if I MS> don't give them the combination? Well, IANAL, but yes, I believe that you can be. Or, worse, obstruction of justice. Especially if they cut it open and find that the knife was in the safe. -- #include <disclaimer.h> /* Sten Drescher */ To get my PGP public key, send me email with your public key and Subject: PGP key exchange Key fingerprint = 90 5F 1D FD A6 7C 84 5E A9 D3 90 16 B2 44 C4 F3