Jailed for failing to disclose your password to the police - is this a step too far in the invasion of privacy?

No, I don't suppose that the police are too interested in 99% of the publics computers as they probably all contain the same sort of thing but child pornography,terrorism & serious fraud are. The issue here is not guilt but protection, providing police have strong enough evidence or overwhelming suspicion I think this is reasonable. The law that police used is the little known "The Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act" (RIPA) 2000

Anyone who refuses to decrypt material could face five years in jail if the investigation relates to terrorism or national security, or up to two years in jail in other cases. The measure has been criticised by civil liberties activists and security experts who say that the move erodes privacy and could lead a person to be forced to incriminate themselves.

In the US, that would have been covered under self-incrimination; evidently this is not the case for the UK. As always, you need to weigh up an individual's right to privacy against the ability of the state to protect us against criminals.

I'm not sure what the procedure is for requesting the password; the article only describes it as a "formal request", but in several other computer-related issues (eg IP address tracking), the police normally have to get a warrant before they can look at information on a computer. I'd be very surprised if the police could just look at any computer they liked.

I thought the Cops had a way of bypassing a password, I mean if hackers can get into a computer so could a professional hired by the Police.

They suspected him of a very serious offence so I agree with the tactics used. But again there is an ethical question of universal snooping into the privacy of your computer and its contents.

What happens if one does not politically agree with the government or hold certain views so in that respect I take your point.

The crime is having illegal stuff on your computer. However since most 19 year-olds can lock down their hard disk in a way that PC Plod can't see what's on it, there's a supplementary crime of refusing to let them in. It's a bit like making it impossible for the police to enter your house when they have a search warrant.

It was a jury who found him guilty, not the police.

This guy had a 50 digit encryption on his computer to hide suspected child pornography. So it is not quite the case of a regular guy wanting to keep his password private.

Not much sympathy here I'm afraid.

Since government thinks it knows better what's good for you than you do you will continue to see more and more intrusions into your personal life. Failing to give his password to the police is his right under the fifth amendment against self incrimination.

This is very strange as the police have the equiptment to bypass all of this. I would think he/she has a good case of unlawful inprisonment unless a judge ordered the person to provide the password.

Is this the same matter, I wonder, or is there more of it going on than one would imagine? http://uk.answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=Av...

Is having your computer trawled through by the police really much worse than having them ransack your private papers and rummage your chest of drawers? I would hate either. This young man is, paradoxically enough, taking a moral stand.

Obstruction of justice. You have to wonder what he is trying to hide and why.

One thing to remember in the UK, is the fact that if your PC goes faulty and you have to take it to a place of repair, the people carrying out the repairs are legally obliged to report any illegal content found on the hard drive.

He could have typed the password in himself to open the site to show he had no child abuse material on his computer