LA Jurisdiction use legal wrangling to force women to unlock iPhone, sparks discussion

cyberslueths FBI suspected identity thieves tracking obtained court orders requiring a woman to press his finger on an iPhone to unlock it, according to a Los Angeles Times report. This is one of the first cases in which the authorities have used court orders to get past biometric security in a handheld device, but it is expected that such incidents occurring more frequently. The whole process from arrest to obtain an order of a court of first instance occurred within 45 minutes.

This is a controversial legal gray area with two contradictory interpretations. The controversy because, as forced access to mobile phones may be incompatible with the law Fifth Amendment, which protects people from being compelled to testify against themselves.

One side of the debate argues that forced a smart phone access is not protected by the Fifth Amendment, as there is no speech. Placing the finger at a particular point on a device it can not be considered as a testimony in itself. The revelation of an access code for the same device, however, is covered by the Fifth Amendment. The other side has the point that as the device responds to the keystroke, a testament to auto charge is provided even speechless.

There is no clear law to the extent that law enforcement authorities can go to get earlier devices still biometric security. The debate is being waged by contrast interpretations of existing law fifth amendment.