You may be devising ways on how to protect your mobile devices and computers or downloading apps that you know would protect your data but the US government now has a concrete solution on how to help you against abuse. Why, the a federal district court judge recently ruled that the Fifth Amendment of the US Constitution protects your password.
Judge Mark Kearney of an Eastern Pennsylvanian court ruled that smartphone passcodes are protected by the constitution, thus, no one has the right to get that kind of information from you. This ruling is based on a recent case between a couple of Capital One employees and the Securities and Exchange Commission. The ruling was handed down on last Wednesday, September 23.
The case involved two former employees of a credit card company. Nan Huang and Bonan Huang were reportedly charged with illegal insider trading, taking advantage of their jobs as data analysts within the company and what they know about several corporations. The two were believed to have profited from their investments growing from $150,000 to $2.8 million.
During the investgation, the SEC requested them to return the company phones so they could also search for evidences. While the issue of illegal profiteering was the main problem, the issue of giving up the passcodes arose when the defendants were forced to give such information since the phones belong to the company. The SEC insisted that those are not personal properties because the employer owns them.
The SEC was determined to check the phones and see whatever evidences are there. SEC insisted that phones should be unlocked and they be given access especially because the smartphones contained bank records.
Judge Kearney was quick to disagree and said that “evidences” have not been proven yet, therefore, the defendants are not compelled to provide information such as passcodes.
This case of asking passcodes to check on evidences is new so there really is no official ruling yet. Right now, the Huangs are still protected by the Fifth Amendment of the Constitution. For similar cases in the future, the complainant must be able to prove that a device such as a smartphone contain incriminating information before asking for access. Corporate-owned devices are indeed owned by the company but passcodes are private, at least, according to the Fifth Amendment.
VIA: Last Security
