re fifth amendment and passwords ashall magnus acs ohio state edu andrew s hall writes i am postive someone will correct me if i am wrong but doesn t the fifth also cover not being forced to do actions that are self incriminating from mike godwin mnemonic eff org posted with permission carl sadly it does not suspects can be compelled to give handwriting and voice exemplars and to take blood and dna tests e g the police couldn t demand that you silently take them to where the body is buried or where the money is hidden no but they could compell you to produce the key to a safe where as it happens evidence that will convict you is stored the crypto key disclosure issue hasn t come up yet but current law suggests that it s a loser for the defendant he ll be compelled to turn over the key the test for compelled self incrimination is whether the material to be disclosed in itself tends to inculpate the discloser in the example i gave above the safe key itself has no testimonial value ergo it can be disclosed under compulsion e g subpoena duces tecum moreover the government can always immunize the disclosure of a crypto key compelling you to disclose the key at the price of not using the fact of your disclosure as evidence in the case against you of course they can use whatever they discover as a result of this disclosure against you mike carl kadie i do not represent any organization this is just me kadie cs uiuc edu
