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Full-Text Articles in Law

United States V. Hubbell: Encryption And The Discovery Of Documents, Gregory S. Sergienko Mar 2018

United States V. Hubbell: Encryption And The Discovery Of Documents, Gregory S. Sergienko

Greg Sergienko

Five years ago, in a contribution to these pages, I suggested that the Supreme Court's oldest precedents and the original intent of the framers of the Constitution precluded the use of evidence produced under a grant of immunity against the producer, even though the material produced included documents that the producer had not been compelled to write. This implied that information concealed with a cryptographic key could not be used in a criminal prosecution against someone from whom the key had been obtained under a grant of immunity. The issue, however, was doubtful given the tendency of the Court to …


Self Incrimination And Cryptographic Keys, Gregory S. Sergienko Mar 2018

Self Incrimination And Cryptographic Keys, Gregory S. Sergienko

Greg Sergienko

Modern cryptography can make it virtually impossible to decipher documents without the cryptographic key thus making the availability of the contents of those documents depend on the availability of the key. This article examines the Fourth and Fifth Amendments' protection against the compulsory production of the key and the scope of the Fifth Amendment immunity against compelled production. After analyzing these questions using prevailing Fourth and Fifth Amendment jurisprudence, I shall describe the advantages of a privacy-based approach in practical and constitutional terms. [excerpt]