If Alice gives Bob her key and Bob is not a person with whom Alice has a special relationship of trust (e.g. her lawyer), then Alice has no legal grounds to complain if Bob *voluntarily* gives Carol, a Cop, Alice's key. If Alice gives Bob her key and Bob is not a person with whom Alice has a special relationship of trust (e.g. her lawyer), then Alice has no legal grounds to complain if Carol, a Cop, serves Bob with a valid warrant to seize Alice's key and in fact does so. Furthermore, there are circumstances in some states where even if there is a special relationship of trust Bob either may at his discretion or in some rarer cases may be forced to divulge the key. E.g. to prevent a crime that is about to be committed likely to involve loss of life. A. Michael Froomkin | +1 (305) 284-4285; +1 (305) 284-6506 (fax) Associate Professor of Law | U. Miami School of Law | froomkin@law.miami.edu P.O. Box 248087 | http://www.law.miami.edu/~froomkin Coral Gables, FL 33124 USA | It's warm here.