Encrypt Your Data

Please Note

The Surveillance Self-Defense project is a work in progress, and has yet not been updated to reflect the 2013 revelations about the NSA surveillance programs. Please note that the law and technology can change quickly, and portions of the SSD may be out of date.

Please use the SSD as a starting point for your own research, but check for more recent facts, cases and authorities. Please note that, even if a statement made about the law is accurate, it may only be accurate in one jurisdiction (place); as well, the law may have changed, been modified or overturned by subsequent development since the entry was made. The materials in the SSD are for informational purposes only and not for the purpose of providing legal advice. You should contact your attorney to obtain advice with respect to any particular issue or problem.

Requiring a strong password to log onto accounts on your computer is a good security step. But when the government is your attacker, it's not nearly enough. If the government seizes your computer, all it has to do to get around your account protection is to take the hard drive out and stick it into another computer to get around your password protection. Similarly, if you were subject to a sneak-and-peek search, the government could sneak in with their own hardware, take your hard drive out and copy it, and then replace it without you ever knowing. Your best and only protection against this is to encrypt the data that's on your computer so the government can't read it. If you're not familiar with encryption, how it works, and what it does, check out our technology article about encryption basics.

You should also find out more about how to choose and use file and disk encryption software.

So I used file encryption and the government seized my computer — now what? Well, first off, don't give them your password during the search — you have the right to remain silent, so use it. Since they can't search your encrypted files without your help, you've got leverage that most search targets never have. But now you've done all you can — now it's time to call a lawyer. (Anyway, you should have called as soon as the computer was seized, right?)

A lawyer may be able to get your property back if the warrant was improper, negotiate a deal with the government's attorneys to limit the search or get important files back, or convince the court to strictly limit the search so that they won't search files that are legally privileged (like confidential legal or medical records), protected by the First Amendment (like private membership lists), or irrelevant to the case.

Alternatively, a prosecutor may ask a judge to order you to turn over your password. The law is unclear on whether such an order would be valid, but that is a matter to face with the assistance of counsel. No one other than a judge can force you to reveal your password.

Please Note

The SSD Project

Encrypt Your Data