Compliance Management, Government Regulations, Privacy

Authorities blocked from accessing accused’s iPhone

A man sitting in jail on charges of sex trafficking was ordered by a federal judge to unlock his iPhone, but so far his attorney has succeeded in blocking the order on constitutional grounds.

Magistrate Judge Irma Ramirez ordered on May 26 that Dallas resident Martavious Banks Keys, aka Cheese, provide a fingerprint to allow authorities to unlock his Apple iPhone 5S, according to report by Ars Technica. But compelling Keys to comply with the authorities in their prosecution violates his constitutional rights, his attorney said.

It's not known whether the government has gained access to the contents of Keys' device via another technique. A federal appeals court is expected to hear the case in September. The suspect, indicted June 7, has not been charged with a crime.

Legal precedence on this topic is unsettled, the report stated, as few legal rulings apply to biometric disclosure or the revealing of a password. 

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