Do not collect $200
Two people have been successfully prosecuted for refusing
to provide authorities with their encryption keys.
The pair could face five years in jail under Blighty law.
It is the first time that the law has been used. Technically the government
could force people to unscramble their data since October 2007. The disclosure
was made by Sir Christopher Rose, the government's Chief Surveillance
Commissioner, in his recent annual report. It is not clear what the crimes were
being investigated in the case of either individual - neither of whom were
necessarily suspects - nor of the sentences they received.
Requests from the press about the convictions have turned
a blank. The Crown Prosecution Service said it was unable to track down
information on the legal milestones without the defendants' names. Sir Christopher said that all of the 15 section 49
notices served over the year including the two that resulted in convictions -
were in "counter terrorism, child indecency and domestic extremism"
cases. (Remember, remember, the 5th of November... sub.ed.)