Bloomberg Law
July 29, 2019, 2:46 PMUpdated: July 29, 2019, 6:17 PM

Government Can Force Child Porn Suspect to Unlock Phone (1)

Alexis Kramer
Alexis Kramer
Reporter

Forcing a person to use his fingerprint to unlock a cellphone doesn’t violate his constitutional right against self-incrimination, a federal court ruled.

The U.S. District Court for the District of Idaho granted the U.S. government’s bid for a search warrant to compel a child pornography suspect to unlock his phone for a forensic search.

The July 26 decision highlights a split among district courts over whether forcing individuals to use biometric identifiers to unlock their digital devices runs afoul of the U.S. Constitution. No federal circuit court has weighed in on the issue, U.S. District Judge David C. Nye said. ...

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