can government force you to reveal the crypto key

[Tiger Shark]

What we used to say in the military about ourselves applies equally well here:-

The Military can't _make_ you do anything, but they can make you wish you had.......

[whizkid2300]

Perfectly placed Tiger Shark.

If it can't be cracked they will find a way to get you to tell them.

Now let's think about this a different way. Let's take this from a interesting point.

If you are just a regular average everyday Joe, they are not going to put all those resources into you. It would be just ludacris to do so.

Now let's take this from another Point of view. If the Gvt. being any gvt. wants something Bad enough, we all know that they will get it. Some way or another.

If it is nothing more then just Shoting you in the Kneecaps until you tell the Key. Not like it hasn't been done before.


Were there is a gun there is a way.

[Lansing_Banda]

Sorry to break the intensity here but WhizKid2300, I could just sit here and watch your avatar for hours. That is just great.

[Agent_Steal]

Yes they could force you to give it to them.. Look at what happened to the creator of PGP Phil Zimmerman if I am correct.The us govt. went and took him to court. Since they had a hard time cracking his encryption, I still think that they havent been able to crack it yet. They begean to accuse him that his encryption is a threat to world peace.Incidentally the law invoked against Phil (International Traffic in Arms Control Regulations, ITAR) classifies Automatic Teller Machines as "Auxilliary Military Equipment". Yes those machines you use
to get money from your account at night are considered lethal.
The reason was because his software somehow had ended up somewhere else in which he had nothing to do with it. So yes in the end the government will do anything to get what they want.

[spurious_inode]

I have no idea what the various intelligence agencies throughout Europe and the U.S. have or don't have, but I would be willing to bet that whatever it is it is very hardcore and would probably surprise most of us with it's abilities and raw computing power.

[Lord Viczerez]

[the true answer to the question is actually very [blur]"iffy"[/blur] , and is really based on how much you actually know about ur rights as a citizen vs. what u've heard on the news and form [gloworange]word of mouth[/gloworange] . I see a lot about the [shadow]"Patriot Act"[/shadow] & peoples misguided preceptions fuled by the media. The [shadow]"Patriot Act"[/shadow] dose not give the gov' as much power as they'd have u believe, sure they can say "ur a terriost and hold your indefinably, but that really applies to those whom r not American Citizens…& more so for those who r not citizens and hail from the Middle East. Think about it, the people running the gov’ aren’t that stupid, the amount of public and media backlash that they’d receive for holding an American youth “hostage” because of something as such would be egregious. And there is one thing u must all ways remember…people in the gov’ r elected and must seam to be hard on terrorist, but not oppressive to American Citizens. Due to this very fact when it come to dealing with natural American Citizens they cannot opperate on the "the end justifies the means" principle.

then there is the subpoena, it's pretty much useless...i mean if you know that they are going to ask you for it get rid of it b4 they do so, not after, then you can be charged with distroying evidence which will open up another can of worms.

Well, I hope what I've learned in school, GO KNIGHTS, will actually answer your question correctly and subdue some of this misguided speculation.]

[Sgear17]

absolutely they can!!!!!! they can blsck mail you and force you to do that or pay you!!1 so that they can get what they want

[darkes]

As Lord Viczerez said, all of this does depend on where you live.

The UK has very similar powers to the US in this respect, and is currently detaining 10 foreign nationals without trial (some for more than 2 years) under its anti terrorism act.
Identical to the situation in the US regarding Guatemalo Bay, really.

When it comes to revealling keys, the UK does have the power under the RIP act to force anyone to surrender their key. It is also a criminal offence to inform anybody else that you have been forced to do this, so who knows if this law has been used ???

In the UK, all of this was passed before 9 11, so they don't have that as an excuse !!

Don't know the details of your "Patriot Act", but in the UK the authorities do not need a court order (that is a subpoena in US terms) to invoke these powers. So they can, and do, turn up and confiscate computer equipment that might have been used in some illegal activity.

[Dr_Evil]

yes they can.
They can do anything using National Security as a reason, just as the Narcs can check everyones butt for drugs.

Another thing, they dont force you, they just take it.They have their ways of getting it.



Dr_Evil

[2pumpChump]

Oh NO! Somebody call Mulder and Scully, we've got a consipiracy! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!