Pa. Court: Suspect Can't Be Compelled To Reveal Password

Privacy advocates scored a major victory when the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled in late November, in a 4-3 decision, that a person does not have to reveal a computer password to law enforcement.

The ruling stems from a case that started in 2014 when investigators with the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office discovered child pornography being shared online. Eventually, the case led them to Joseph Davis, a Luzerne County resident who was eventually charged with two counts of distributing child pornography.

In October 2015, agents seized a computer from Davis that agents claimed held illici...