Citizens can can now be ordered to decrypt their encripted hard drivesl

American citizens can be ordered to decrypt their PGP-scrambled hard drives for police to peruse for incriminating files, a federal judge in Colorado ruled today (January 23, 2012) in what could become a precedent-setting case.

Judge Robert Blackburn ordered a Peyton, Colo., woman to decrypt the hard drive of a Toshiba laptop computer no later than February 21--or face the consequences including contempt of court.  Judge Blackburn wrote in a 10-page opinion today "I find and conclude that the Fifth Amendment is not implicated by requiring production of the unencrypted contents of the Toshiba Satellite M305 laptop computer,"  U.S. Department of Justice, which argued, that Americans' Fifth Amendment right to remain silent doesn't apply to their encryption pass phrases.