The iPhone could contain incriminating data, judge says

Dec 14, 2016 12:43 GMT  ·  By

A Florida court has ordered an arrested man to disclose his iPhone passcode, as investigators believe that the device could store incriminating evidence.

Aaron Stahl was arrested after surveillance cameras spotted him taking photos with an iPhone under the skirt of an unnamed woman in a shopping mall, with police officers now claiming that there’s a big chance that the device has more pictures that would help them with the case.

Stahl originally agreed to have his iPhone accessed by the investigators, but he then changed his mind and invoked the Fifth Amendment to refuse to disclose the passcode to the phone.

A trial court originally ruled in the favor of the defendant, but now a court in Florida changed the decision, ordering the man to disclose the passcode that would have authorities access information stored on the iPhone.

There’s a precedent

Judge Anthony Black found a precedent, pointing to a Supreme Court case in 1988, Doe versus the United States, when the defendant was asked to provide the key to a strongbox that included incriminating documents.

The two cases are very similar, Judge Black said, so the arrested man is now being asked to disclose the passcode to his iPhone.

“We question whether identifying the key which will open the strongbox - such that the key is surrendered - is, in fact, distinct from telling an officer the combination,” Judge Black explained. “More importantly, we question the continuing viability of any distinction as technology advances.”

The case will now move to the Supreme Court, which must decide whether the man can be asked to provide the passcode to his iPhone or not.

There are several other cases in the United States where authorities are trying to get access to iPhones involved in criminal investigations and it goes without saying that the decision in this dispute can set a dangerous precedent that can be used afterwards whenever authorities need to break into a specific iPhone.