QUESTION:
Can police force you to unlock your phone with your fingerprint but not a password?
ANSWER:
We can verify this is true.
SOURCES:
Mark Rasch, Secure It Experts.--Former Head of Justice Department's Cybercrime Unit---Rasch Technology & Cyberlaw
RESOURCES:
PROCESS:
This question was sent to us by Rick TownShend from Alexandria, Va. The question stems from a meme that says "Your fingerprint is not protected under the Fifth Amendment, so police can force you to unlock a phone with a fingerprint but not a password."
Mark Rasch with Secure IT Experts verified the meme is correct. However, he also gave us more helpful information.
Where it says here police can force you to unlock a phone, the Supreme Court says they have to get a warrant to do so.
The police cannot force you to unlock your phone without one, however, this is still a relatively untested area of Fifth Amendment law, meaning a future case could change the rules.
