Webantix

This question has been in my head for a while now. If you use a disk encryption product either to encrypt a partition or the whole hard drive would you be able to not give the pass phrase to a border guard or immigration. Well a new story in the states is starting to look like it will answer my question.
This story has come up. Now the accused is saying he will not give his pass phrase for his PGP Whole Disk Encryption. The courts are saying he has to even though doing this “could” incriminate him. America have the fifth amendment that should stop him doing this as you cannot self-incriminate yourself but a judge looks like he can over throw this???

As I am in the UK I do not have this fith ammendment protecting me and as I am not a law student I do not know if I have any other laws protecting me but it does worry me. OK the accussed has been accused of carrying child pornography and I do not want to protect any one who is involved in this but should any one have to divulge their passwords or passphrases?? I believe that there are some products that hide them selves so you can deny that the files excist (Truecrypt) but that is a file or a folder not the whole operating system.

Now I do not have anything to hide from any one so only encrypt my customers details, but when Phillip Zimmerman created PGP in the early 80’s he did it to stop repressive governments reading emails. Looks like the American “represive” government will now just throw you in jail for having your laptop encrypted. OK may be slight over kill but hey you never know.