Another Northern District Magistrate Weighs in on Forced Use of Biometrics to Unlock Devices
U.S. Magistrate Judge Virginia Demarchi in San Jose found that forcing an individual to use a biometric feature such as a fingerprint to unlock an electronic device is an "inherently testimonial" act subject to Fifth Amendment protections.
August 30, 2019 at 05:25 PM
3 minute read
Another magistrate judge in the Northern District of California has found that forcing an individual to use their own biometric feature such as a fingerprint to unlock an electronic device is a "testimonial" act subject to Fifth Amendment protections.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Virginia Demarchi held that it was "inherently testimonial" to compel individuals to unlock devices so that law enforcement officers could access their contents.
" Here, compelling an individual who is a target of the investigation to use his or her finger or face to unlock a device represents incriminating testimony within the meaning of the Fifth Amendment because it amounts to an assertion of fact that the individual has the ability to unlock the device; which in turn makes it more like that the individual locked the device and put the material sought by the warrant on the device," wrote Demarchi, who is based in San Jose.
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