Giving Cops the Finger: Compelled Device Decryption and the Fifth Amendment – Riana Pfefferkorn
Abstract
You can unlock your smartphone with a passcode, your finger, even your face. When the cops demand you decrypt your phone or other device for them, can you successfully invoke your Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination? Well, it depends. This talk quickly walks through the when, where, why, and how of compelled decryption and the Fifth Amendment under current caselaw. It ends with some practical takeaways, including “don’t talk to the cops” and “stay out of Florida.”
Bio
Riana Pfefferkorn is the Associate Director of Surveillance and Cybersecurity at the Stanford Center for Internet and Society. Her work focuses on investigating and analyzing the U.S. government’s policy and practices for forcing decryption and/or influencing crypto-related design of online platforms and services, devices, and products, both via technical means and through the courts and legislatures.