Court-Martial Trial Practice Blog
What is the status of an accused being forced to divulge passwords on computers suspected of having contraband.
As an update in a recent case in which the government obtained an order compelling in individual to provide access to decrypted information on seized hard drives, In the Matter of The Decryption of a Seized Data Storage System (EDWI May 21, 2013) (No. 13-M-449), the government reported that it was able to decrypt some but not all of the data which has been used in support of an arrest warrant in the case
The Federal Evidence Blog has been following the few cases so far addressing whether theFifth Amendment may disallow efforts by the government to compel an individual to decrypt computer information. As one recent example, a court originally denied a government application to compel decryption under the Fifth Amendment, and then granted the ruling upon reconsidering additional information submitted in an ex parte application. See In the Matter of The Decryption of a Seized Data Storage System (EDWI May 21, 2013) (No. 13-M-449); See generally Compelling Access To Encrypted Information (Part II) (Jan. 30, 2012) (summarizing case). There is a new development in the case.
http://federalevidence.com/blog/2013/august/compelling-access-encrypted-information-part-vii