US judge rules police cannot force suspects to unlock their phones using biometrics

The ultrasonic fingerprint scanner on the OnePlus 6T is slow and not very reliable. Image: Tech2/Anirudh Regidi[/caption]The case which prompted the judge to rule in favour of privacy involved an instance of Facebook-related extortion attempt. According to the warrant filed, the victim was asked to pay up to the extortionists or an 'embarrassing' video would be uploaded publicly. The police had identified suspects whose property they wanted to raid as well as check their phones which needed to be unlocked using biometrics.The judge found the property search raid request to be valid but did not grant permission to search their mobile phones by forcing it to be unlocked using biometrics.“If a person cannot be compelled to provide a passcode because it is a testimonial communication, a person cannot be compelled to provide one’s finger, thumb, iris, face, or other biometric feature to unlock that same device,” said the judge, Kandis Westmore, in the ruling. According to the judge, even with a warrant, the government could not force suspects to incriminate themselves by unlocking their own devices with their biometrics.Instead of accessing their phone data, which could go beyond what the police were looking for, the judge asked the authorities to look for alternative ways of tackling the issue. For instance, since it was a Facebook-related crime, the authorities could reach out to Facebook to get access to Messenger communications.Here's the complete judgement.Judge rules police can'... by on Scribd