Name: Suspects Can Be Forced to Provide Smartphone Passcodes, Rules New Jersey Supreme Court
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Suspects Can Be Forced to Provide Smartphone Passcodes, Rules New Jersey Supreme Court

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Tuesday August 11, 2020 11:23 am PDT by Compelling a suspect to unlock a smartphone doesn't violate Fifth Amendment rights, New Jersey's Supreme Court ruled today (via ), adding a new argument to the ongoing debate on whether those arrested can be forced to unlock their devices with biometrics or passcodes.Courts around the United States have been split on the issue, with some determining that suspects cannot be forced to unlock an , while others have said it's not a rights violation. Most of these arguments have focused on biometric smartphone unlocking methods like and , but New Jersey says that a criminal defendant can be forced to provide a passcode.In the NJ case, prosecutors wanted access to two iPhones owned by former Essex County sheriff Robert Andrews, accused of secretly working with a street gang. Andrews argued that requiring him to provide a passcode would be a violation of his Fifth Amendment rights against self-incrimination, but the court rejected the argument and said that it only applies when the accused is "compelled to make a testimonial communication that is incriminating."Fifth Amendment rights do not protect suspects from producing documents to use as evidence in cases, and the court considered the ‌iPhone‌'s text and phone call content to be documents.The court, which was split on the decision 4 to 3, said that even if the passcodes were considered testimony, there was already evidence that there were texts and telephone exchanges between the sheriff and an alleged drug dealer, enacting a "foregone conclusion exception" to the Fifth Amendment because the state already knows about the texts. By providing the passcodes, Andrews would not be providing information the government is not already aware of. The full ruling with additional context is available from the NJ courts website [].Based on the record in this case, compelled production of the passcodes falls within the foregone conclusion exception. The State's demonstration of the passcodes' existence, Andrews's previous possession and operation of the cellphones, and the passcodes' self-authenticating nature render the issue here one of surrender, not testimony, and the exception thus applies. Therefore, the Fifth Amendment does not protect Andrews from compelled disclosure of the passcodes to his cellphones. The Court would reach the same conclusion if it viewed the analysis to encompass the phones' contents. The search warrants and record evidence of the particular content that the State knew the phones contained provide ample support for that determination.Andrews' attorney, Charles Sciarra, called the court's ruling a "major defeat to the United States Constitution.""Forget alleged criminal conduct: It's time to rethink whether you should keep anything simply private or personal on a personal electronic device because if the government wants it, they can now get it," he said. "If you are in a car accident they can go through your whole phone to see if you were a distracted driver."The New Jersey Supreme Court ruling could have an impact on future court cases involving locked smartphones, and courts will continue to come to different conclusions on the issue of smartphone unlocking until the United States Supreme Court steps in and clarifies how constitutional rights and precedents apply to new technologies.Note: Due to the political or social nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.[ ]Not a chance. How exactly are they going to enforce that? Forcing them to provide biological data is one thing, but forcing them to speak something they've remembered? You can't force someone to talk, period.oops... I entered it wrong five times, darn... it’s erasing my phoneScore: 48 Votes ( | )Simple solution, Apple and Google need to build in a mechanism where if you enter a certain password/passcode, it immediately erases the phone using a completely secure erase mechanism.Score: 42 Votes ( | )Not a chance. How exactly are they going to enforce that? Forcing them to provide biological data is one thing, but forcing them to speak something they've remembered? You can't force someone to talk, period.Score: 37 Votes ( | )How do you compel someone? Are you going to waterboard us until we tell you the passcode?Score: 27 Votes ( | )"By providing the passcodes, Andrews would not be providing information the government is not already aware of." Then you don't need my passcode bub.Score: 21 Votes ( | )idiot NJ at it once again. Not a chance. How exactly are they going to enforce that? Forcing them to provide biological data is one thing, but forcing them to speak something they've remembered? You can't force someone to talk, period.they'll throw you in for contempt until you doScore: 19 Votes ( | )Friday September 9, 2022 9:20 am PDT by Garmin has reacted to Apple's new rugged Apple Watch Ultra, saying in a tweet following the iPhone 14 and Apple Watch event that it measures battery life in "months" and "not hours," promoting its latest Enduro 2 watch for athletes. While the Apple Watch Ultra has the longest battery life of any Apple Watch to date, with Apple promising up to 36 hours of normal use and up to 60 hours with... • Sunday September 11, 2022 7:53 am PDT by Apple is set to release iOS 16 this Monday, September 12, as a free update for the iPhone 8 and newer. iOS 16 includes plenty of new features, ranging from a customizable Lock Screen to the ability to temporarily edit or unsend iMessages. To install iOS 16 when the update is released, open the Settings app on your iPhone and tap General → Software Update. After you update your iPhone to... • Friday September 9, 2022 1:37 pm PDT by With pre-orders for the iPhone 14 lineup now open, many iPhone customers will be weighing up whether or not now is the time to upgrade their device. The iPhone 14 models offer some substantial upgrades with Emergency SOS via satellite, Crash Detection, camera improvements, and more, but some customers will now be casting their mind forward to next year, when it may be a more appropriate time ... • Monday September 12, 2022 4:27 am PDT by The iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Plus have seen "bad" pre-order results, indicating that Apple's positioning of the two new standard models may have failed, according to Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. In his -14-first-weekend-online-pre-order-survey-110411040b5d"&gt;latest post on Medium, Kuo explained that the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max have seen "neutral" and "good" pre-order results... • Sunday September 11, 2022 2:00 am PDT by There are usually multiple features that Apple is not able to finish before the first official release of a major new version of iOS, and this year looks to be no different, with a total of nine iOS 16 features now confirmed to not be present in the first public version of the new OS. Last year, SharePlay, Digital IDs in the Wallet app, and Universal Control were among a large number of... • Sunday September 11, 2022 3:58 pm PDT by Apple does not advertise battery capacities for its new iPhone 14 lineup, but MacRumors has obtained this information from a Chinese regulatory database. Three out of four iPhone 14 models feature larger battery capacities compared to the iPhone 13 lineup, with the exception being the iPhone 14 Pro Max, which is equipped with a slightly smaller battery compared to the iPhone 13 Pro Max.... • Sunday September 11, 2022 1:20 pm PDT by Following its September event focused on new iPhone and Apple Watch models, Apple often holds another event in October focused on new iPad and Mac models, and this year will likely be no exception. October is still three weeks away, but we already have a good idea of the products that would likely be announced at an event next month. For the October event, rumors suggest that Apple plans to... • Saturday September 10, 2022 2:31 pm PDT by As was the case with iPhone 13 Pro models released last year, 4K ProRes video recording on the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max still requires a model with at least 256GB of storage, according to Apple's tech specs for the devices. ProRes video recording is limited to 1080p at 30 frames per second on iPhone 14 Pro models with a 128GB storage capacity. To record ProRes video in 4K at 30... • When will iOS 16 and iPadOS 16 be released? Here's everything we know. Apple on July 20 released iOS 15.6 and iPadOS 15.6, bringing improvements to the live sports experience in the TV app and several bug fixes. How big of an upgrade are Apple's cheapest mainstream flagship phones? Apple's latest Pro phones replace the notch with an innovative "Dynamic Island," but what else is new compared to last year's models?• • • • • September 16Apple's new high-end iPhone models with Dynamic Island camera cutout, A16 chip, 48MP main camera, and more. Pre-orders available now. September 16Apple's latest mainstream iPhone models in two sizes with A15 chip, car crash detection, satellite connectivity, and more. Pre-order now ahead of iPhone 14 launch on September 16, iPhone 14 Plus on October 7. September 16New body temperature sensors, car crash detection, and more. Pre-order now. Mid–Late 2022?Updated AirPods Pro could see some design changes like elimination of the stem.• • • • • {other_blurb}

Tuesday August 11, 2020 11:23 am PDT by Compelling a suspect to unlock a smartphone doesn't violate Fifth Amendment rights, New Jersey's Supreme Court ruled today (via ), adding a new argument to the ongoing debate on whether those arrested can be forced to unlock their devices with biometrics or passcodes.Courts around the United States have been split on the issue, with some determining that suspects cannot be forced to unlock an , while others have said it's not a rights violation. Most of these arguments have focused on biometric smartphone unlocking methods like and , but New Jersey...

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Suspects Can Be Forced to Provide Smartphone Passcodes, Rules New Jersey Supreme Court

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