NY Times: Don't trust the state to respect your privacy; use encryption

Autonomist0 — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 22:30:00 GMT

Adam Liptak reveals the digital privacy we can expect from the state:

While "one lonely voice" argued that

“Electronic storage devices function as an extension of our own memory...They are capable of storing our thoughts, ranging from the most whimsical to the most profound.”

The consensus seems to be that

"a computer is just a container and deserves no special protection from searches at the border."

The implications are quite ominous, according to the EFF:

“Under the government’s reasoning,” the brief said, “border authorities could systematically collect all of the information contained on every laptop computer, BlackBerry and other electronic device carried across our national borders by every traveler, American or foreign.”

The question of whether you can be punished for refusing to reveal a encryption key is far from being settled, yet several lessons are clear:

One is that the border [and your car/person/digital communications] seems be a privacy-free zone. A second is that encryption programs work.

Court ruling protects encryption keys as a Fifth Amendment right

Autonomist0 — Tue, 18 Dec 2007 01:09:00 GMT

Good news for Americans:

U.S. Magistrate Judge Jerome Niedermeier ruled that a man charged with transporting child pornography on his laptop across the Canadian border has a Fifth Amendment right not to turn over the passphrase to prosecutors. The Fifth Amendment protects the right to avoid self-incrimination.

If this becomes a precedent, it will be distinctly different from European countries such as the U.K, where a new law provides for up to two years of jail time simply for refusing to reveal a key.

As people's digital storage increasingly becomes an integrated part of their identity, the right to keep certain data private will become increasingly important. The right to keep encryption keys private will increasingly mean the freedom to keep certain thoughts private, whether they are stored in wetware or digital form.

More: Crypto and Self-Incrimination FAQ

Crypto-Autonomist : rights

NY Times: Don't trust the state to respect your privacy; use encryption

Court ruling protects encryption keys as a Fifth Amendment right