Forcing Defendant to Decrypt Hard Drive Is Unconstitutional, Appeals Court Rules

Photo: Mr Mo-Fo/Flickr
Forcing a criminal suspect to decrypt hard drives so their contents can be used by prosecutors is a breach of the Fifth Amendment right against compelled self-incrimination, a federal appeals court ruled Thursday.
It was the nation’s first appellate court to issue such a finding. And the outcome comes a day after a different federal appeals court refused to entertain an appeal from another defendant ordered by a lower feder…