The issue of law enforcement gaining access to data on a smartphone has resurfaced, after it was revealed a court ordered an individual to unlock an iPhone seized as evidence in an investigation, by using Touch ID. A Los Angeles court has issued a warrant to the FBI forcing a girlfriend of an Armenian gang member to use Touch ID on the iPhone in question, as it was believed her fingerprint was registered to the device and would provide access to data that could help an ongoing investigation into the gang member move onward.
The girlfriend, identified by the Los Angeles Times as Paytsar Bkhchadzhyan, was arrested for alleged identity theft, a charge she pleaded no contest to, and was sentenced on February 25. Court and jail record reveal that US Magistrate Judge Alicia Rosenberg granted the warrant approximately 45 minutes after Bkhchadzhyan was taken into custody, with a cybercrimes agent of the FBI taking her fingerprint later that day for use with the iPhone.
To read the rest of the MacNN.com report, click here.
About Post Author
Share this via:
