Federal court rules police can't force building-wide iPhone fingerprint unlocks

Posted:
in iPhone edited February 2017
Possibly reversing recent trends in law enforcement, a U.S. federal court in Illinois has ruled that warrants can't be used to demand broad fingerprint unlocks for all of the devices in a building, such as Apple iPhones.




Although taking fingerprints doesn't automatically violate Fourth Amendment protections against unreasonable search and seizure, the context in which they're obtained can, magistrate Judge M. David Weisman wrote in his opinion, according to Forbes. Police were asking for access to multiple devices on a property involved in a child pornography investigation.

"In the instant case, the government is seeking the authority to seize any individual at the subject premises and force the application of their fingerprints as directed by government agents," Weisman noted. "Based on the facts presented in the application, the Court does not believe such Fourth Amendment intrusions are justified based on the facts articulated."

The judge noted that the warrant was missing specifics about people living on property, other than the name of one person thought to live there, and was vague about what electronics might be found -- saying only that it was "likely that Apple brand devices" were around.

Weisman also differed with past courts in suggesting that using fingerprint systems like Apple's Touch ID can constitute a form of testimony protected by the Fifth Amendment. By unlocking a phone a person is admitting that they've at least used it before, he said, and possibly that they have a connection to it and its contents.

American police forces have previously managed to secure a number of warrants for unlocking fingerprint-protected phones, whether targeting individual devices or whole properties. The matter has been controversial however, in part because courts have said the Fifth Amendment protects people against supplying a numerical passcode.

Even so, there can be ways around passcode locks -- the FBI infamously managed to use outside tools to crack the iPhone 5c of San Bernardino shooter Syed Rizwan Farook, despite initially claiming it needed Apple's help. Currently, three press outlets are trying to discover the cost of the tools and their source.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 27
    rob53rob53 Posts: 3,241member
    Finally, a judge willing to comply with the laws instead of following the recent trend towards the 4th Reich's use of the new SS.
    stanthemanlostkiwir00fus1ktappe
  • Reply 2 of 27
    rob53 said:
    Finally, a judge willing to comply with the laws instead of following the recent trend towards the 4th Reich's use of the new SS.
    It will only be a temporary stay. The Feds will keep trying until they get the right set of judges to make this stick (enough precident).
    Lets' face it, while TouchID is great and convenient, the law as it stands gives the TLA's easy and lawful access to your device via your fingerprint.
    Sign of the times. Soon it will be 'off to Room 101 [1]for you' if you use a phone without an entry point for the TLA's.

    [1]located on an island in the Carribean perhaps?

  • Reply 3 of 27
    Proof that law enforcement is engaged in an ongoing war against constitutional protections no matter which party is in charge. Remember, demands to crack the iPhone came with the previous administration.
    edited February 2017 mwhiterob53lostkiwi
  • Reply 4 of 27
    Don't use fingerprints for overall device unlock. Better safe than sorry.
  • Reply 5 of 27
    vokbain said:
    Don't use fingerprints for overall device unlock. Better safe than sorry.
    And regarding travel in or out of the US... basically do not carry a phone or computer of any kind with you. Authorities are demanding unlock and surrender of the devices while they copy the contents.
    stanthemanlostkiwi
  • Reply 6 of 27
    paxmanpaxman Posts: 4,729member
    vokbain said:
    Don't use fingerprints for overall device unlock. Better safe than sorry.
    And regarding travel in or out of the US... basically do not carry a phone or computer of any kind with you. Authorities are demanding unlock and surrender of the devices while they copy the contents.
    Perhaps wipe phone before travel and then restore upon arrival? And re computers - trash your documents folder before travel and either connect an external ssd drive to restore or work directly from (packed separately from laptop), or live with cloud docs while away. The idea that border controls can demand this kind of access is outrageous, but at least it is relatively easy to circumvent.
    stantheman[Deleted User]SpamSandwich
  • Reply 7 of 27
    mac_128mac_128 Posts: 3,454member
    paxman said:
    vokbain said:
    Don't use fingerprints for overall device unlock. Better safe than sorry.
    And regarding travel in or out of the US... basically do not carry a phone or computer of any kind with you. Authorities are demanding unlock and surrender of the devices while they copy the contents.
    Perhaps wipe phone before travel and then restore upon arrival? And re computers - trash your documents folder before travel and either connect an external ssd drive to restore or work directly from (packed separately from laptop), or live with cloud docs while away. The idea that border controls can demand this kind of access is outrageous, but at least it is relatively easy to circumvent.
    No. That's seen as suspicious. A blank phone might just as well get you refused entry as refusing to unlock it. And while US citizens and green card holders must eventually be granted entry, they can detain you as long as they like, or however long your lawyer can get a judge to agree becomes unreasonable. And then who knows what list you'll end up on.
    edited February 2017 stanthemanlostkiwi
  • Reply 8 of 27
    rob53rob53 Posts: 3,241member
    Proof that law enforcement is engaged in an ongoing war against constitutional protections no matter which party is in charge. Remember, demands to crack the iPhone came with the previous administration.
    True that Obama mistakingly installed Comey as Director of the FBI but Comey and the FBI has traditionally been a Republican-leaning conservative organization. It definitely hasn't been a liberal organization and Comey proved that. I believe Obama installed Comey to pacify the Republications in Congress, something Trump could care less about.

    I do agree with your statement about law enforcement. As for carrying my iPhone into a foreign country, I took a chance and crossed the border to Canada via the Victoria Clipper. To my surprise, and I shouldn't be saying this, I had no problem going in either direction. Coming back into Seattle, I was surprised all they asked was whether I had any food. I had a fresh bake loaf of bread from a restaurant and they said no problem. Of course, if I cross the border by car they would probably search everything including my phone but the ferry was different. Maybe it was because I only had a backpack.
    lostkiwi
  • Reply 9 of 27
    This sounds like a stupid idea to begin with and shows their complete ignorance of the technology given that the iPhone would revert to requiring a passcode after the first 5 failed touchid attempts, so unless the police happened to get very lucky and find the phones owner - and his correct finger - in the first 5 tries this would be a completely wasted effort regardless of whether it was legal or not.
    edited February 2017
  • Reply 10 of 27
    Demanding access to devices at borders may well prove to be a waste of time for the reasons stated. Unless Trump's 'Great Wall' blocks the internet and isolates the USA that was there is nothing to stop people cleaning their devices before travelling and once admitted AND more that 100 miles from the border from restoring their device at a friendly Starbucks.
     
    Next, they'll be under pressure from the MPAA/RIAA to look for pirated content.
    When that produces almost nil results, they'd turn to something else.


    lostkiwi
  • Reply 11 of 27
    This article needs more meat.  Is the law, a person doesn't have to supply a numeral passcode?  What about an alpha numeric passcode? Pass phrase? Retina scan? Fob? Facial scan?

    The biometric scan is just the tip of the iceberg... this really needs to be kicked up to the Supreme Court.  

    The cops are obviously trying to find a friendly court to create precedence, but there is enough dissent that this needs to go higher.  There is no reason for the law (in this case) to be ambiguous.

    The obvious next question, is Apple changing their authentication method as a result of lack of clarity in the law? No idea...
    ----
    It also seems like providing a passcode would fall under the law against self incrimination...  The cops obviously need the tools to do their job, but it seems like they are left intentionally pissing in the wind.  The security agency cops have been doing mental gymnastics to get around Congressional rulings, but the cops on the street (and everyday people) need to know what the LAW is.

    Here's the NSA's amazing mental gymnastics on mass spying (in the bullets in the article below).  It seems everything falls under, 'if no one asks, don't tell' but no one can ask because it's treated as a black op.  Then Snowden bit them in the ass and started the discussion.

    http://www.theregister.co.uk/2017/02/15/section_702_mass_surveillance/

    Personally, I favor 'Court warrants needed' for surveillance and no mass surveillance.  But, what does a warrant cover?  Does it cover a person, a house, a country, the planet, the solar system?  Somewhere in there it's an unreasonable search.

    The only 'body' that can answer the questions is the Supreme Court.

  • Reply 12 of 27
    rob53 said:
    Proof that law enforcement is engaged in an ongoing war against constitutional protections no matter which party is in charge. Remember, demands to crack the iPhone came with the previous administration.
    True that Obama mistakingly installed Comey as Director of the FBI but Comey and the FBI has traditionally been a Republican-leaning conservative organization. It definitely hasn't been a liberal organization and Comey proved that. I believe Obama installed Comey to pacify the Republications in Congress, something Trump could care less about.

    I do agree with your statement about law enforcement. As for carrying my iPhone into a foreign country, I took a chance and crossed the border to Canada via the Victoria Clipper. To my surprise, and I shouldn't be saying this, I had no problem going in either direction. Coming back into Seattle, I was surprised all they asked was whether I had any food. I had a fresh bake loaf of bread from a restaurant and they said no problem. Of course, if I cross the border by car they would probably search everything including my phone but the ferry was different. Maybe it was because I only had a backpack.
    What makes you think that border agenda search phones without some reason?  I've traveled quite a bit, and I've never had a border agent ask a single question about the content of my laptop or phone.  They ask about fresh food and the like to protect agriculture.
  • Reply 13 of 27

    davemcm76 said:
    This sounds like a stupid idea to begin with and shows their complete ignorance of the technology given that the iPhone would revert to requiring a passcode after the first 5 failed touchid attempts, so unless the police happened to get very lucky and find the phones owner - and his correct finger - in the first 5 tries this would be a completely wasted effort regardless of whether it was legal or not.
    Good point.  If you're paranoid and still want to use TouchID, register only one finger and not your thumb or index finger.
  • Reply 14 of 27
    NemWanNemWan Posts: 118member
    mac_128 said:
    paxman said:
    vokbain said:
    Don't use fingerprints for overall device unlock. Better safe than sorry.
    And regarding travel in or out of the US... basically do not carry a phone or computer of any kind with you. Authorities are demanding unlock and surrender of the devices while they copy the contents.
    Perhaps wipe phone before travel and then restore upon arrival? And re computers - trash your documents folder before travel and either connect an external ssd drive to restore or work directly from (packed separately from laptop), or live with cloud docs while away. The idea that border controls can demand this kind of access is outrageous, but at least it is relatively easy to circumvent.
    No. That's seen as suspicious. A blank phone might just as well get you refused entry as refusing to unlock it. And while US citizens and green card holders must eventually be granted entry, they can detain you as long as they like, or however long your lawyer can get a judge to agree becomes unreasonable. And then who knows what list you'll end up on.
    There are still about 15-30% of Americans who actually don't use the Internet or social media, depending how the question is asked.
    lostkiwi
  • Reply 15 of 27
    Seems to me that the Fifth Amendment should apply to a fingerprint on a digital device as it must be translated into numbers -- a numerical passcode -- for the device to understand and process.
  • Reply 16 of 27
    Somebody should come up with an app that gets triggered when you use a specific finger to unlock. At that point, it would present a fake set of user data, hiding the real data but not looking blank.
  • Reply 17 of 27
    anomeanome Posts: 1,533member

    I'm really getting to the point of putting all my production work in VMs, and just leaving the base OS bare. The problem with this approach is it's a lot of work to set up, and I get so excited when I have new computer, I never get around to do it.

    Also, shutting down your devices before going through Customs at least forces you to use your PIN/Passcode rather than fingerprint. And if you see the police coming, I'd turn my phone and/or computer off. Which is a massive pain, and shouldn't be necessary, but until they resolve this properly (by which I mean we get a final judgement that says this isn't allowed - which is the only reasonable outcome), it's probably the best course of action.

    edited February 2017
  • Reply 18 of 27
    Somebody should come up with an app that gets triggered when you use a specific finger to unlock. At that point, it would present a fake set of user data, hiding the real data but not looking blank.
    Apple should absolutely build something like that into iOS as an extra security option. They could implement it as a separate 'user' with relatively little work on their part. 

    They should also implement alternative passcodes in the same way, since apparently border control can hold you until you to give up your passcode.
  • Reply 19 of 27
    paxmanpaxman Posts: 4,729member
    mac_128 said:
    paxman said:
    vokbain said:
    Don't use fingerprints for overall device unlock. Better safe than sorry.
    And regarding travel in or out of the US... basically do not carry a phone or computer of any kind with you. Authorities are demanding unlock and surrender of the devices while they copy the contents.
    Perhaps wipe phone before travel and then restore upon arrival? And re computers - trash your documents folder before travel and either connect an external ssd drive to restore or work directly from (packed separately from laptop), or live with cloud docs while away. The idea that border controls can demand this kind of access is outrageous, but at least it is relatively easy to circumvent.
    No. That's seen as suspicious. A blank phone might just as well get you refused entry as refusing to unlock it. And while US citizens and green card holders must eventually be granted entry, they can detain you as long as they like, or however long your lawyer can get a judge to agree becomes unreasonable. And then who knows what list you'll end up on.
    So you need to create a backup that you can restore to. An Alternative Truth, if you like, that contains only benign information, photos and browsing history, etc. You'd have to update some of that info prior to travelling but it might be worth it if you are worried, or just want to prevent snooping. 

    There is also Darren_mtchell's point above but like you point out - invoke suspicion and who knows where you'll end up or on what list. 
  • Reply 20 of 27
    This just occurred to me, but what is to stop someone from having two different iCloud backups on different accounts? One that is your normal stuff, that you could erase before crossing the border and then restoring to after, and one that is just for the border guards to see? You'd have to disable and renable activation lock, but that's trivial. This doesn't help if police or whoever is raiding your house without notice, but for customs situations or whatever this could be totally practical. 

    Edit: Hah, Paxman just beat me to it while writing this. 
    edited February 2017
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