Fingerprint & Face ID Protection: The Fifth Amendment to the US Constitution prohibits authorities from forcing you to reveal your phone's PIN or password.
However, this measure cannot ensure fingerprint or Face ID lock protection. According to the news, this may change in the near future.
The history:
A warrant was filed in Oakland seeking permission to conduct a search and seizure of personal property. The warrant included access to all mobile devices, even those locked with biometric data (Fingerprint and Face ID), immediately upon seizure.
However, a judge in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California ruled that the request was excessive, arguing that it was “not limited to a specific person or device.”
In other words, the police were asking the court for a blanket warrant that would allow them to force suspects to unlock their devices.
Forbes' Thomas Brewster describes why this court decision is significant:
In the most important part of the ruling, Judge Westmore said that the government did not have the right, even with a warrant, to force suspects to unlock their devices with their biological characteristics. Previously, courts had ruled that biometric characteristics, unlike passwords, were not protected. This is because a suspect would have to verbally and voluntarily testify to a password, which is not the case with biometric data. Thus, the password was considered a protected credential while body parts were not, and therefore there was no Fifth Amendment protection against self-incrimination.
It sounds logical, since passwords are also protected by law, why not the biometric data Fingerprint and Face ID used to lock a device/property.
Of course, it remains to be seen whether the US authorities will accept the decision, and above all, whether they will respect it in everyday life.
As for Greece, we do not know what is the case. However, the positive thing is that at the moment it is a fait accompli (unless it is later overturned under pressure from the secret services).
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