Cops can't force you to unlock your smartphone with your passcode, but they can force you to unlock it with your fingerprint, according to a judge in Virginia.
The decision, one of the first ones to deal with fingerprints and cellphones, confirms the fact that law enforcement agents can get access to a locked phone with legal means if they need to. At the same time a PIN or a password might enjoy more protection than a fingerprint.
Virginia Beach Circuit Court Judge Steven Frucci ruled that a criminal defendant can be compelled to give up his fingerprint and unlock his cellphone in the course of a criminal investigation — because that's just like handing in a DNA sample or a physical key, which citizens can already be legally compelled to give to police.
On the other hand, police can't force a defendant to give up his passcode, because that's considered "knowledge" — not a physical object — and knowledge is protected by the Fifth Amendment. There have been cases, however, where defendants have been asked to give up their password to decrypt their computers, so there no consensus on this issue yet.
