New Petition Urges Supreme Court to Ensure Fifth Amendment Protections for Cell Phone Passcodes

The American Civil Liberties Union and the Electronic Frontier Foundation have asked the U.S. Supreme Court to reverse the New Jersey Supreme Court's decision in State v. Andrews, which allows the government to compel an individual to disclose their cell phone passcodes. EPIC filed an amicus brief in Andrews and presented oral argument to the New Jersey Supreme Court arguing that the vast troves of data stored in a cell phone require strong constitutional protections. State supreme courts have disagreed about the extent to which individuals are protected from compelled disclosure of their cell phone passcode. Some courts, like New Jersey and Massachusetts, have applied the "foregone conclusion" exception to require individuals to divulge their passcodes. Others, like Pennsylvania and Indiana, have refused to apply that exception and found that the Constitution protects against compelled disclosure of cell phone passcodes.

January 11, 2021| Share: