US Judge Rules That Feds Can’t Force Fingerprint Or Face Phone Unlocks | Engadget

Authorities can’t force people to unlock devices with their faces, fingers or irises, a magistrate judge from California has ruled. Forbes has uncovered a nine-page order denying the search warrant for an investigation looking into a Facebook extortion crime. While the judge admits that investigators were able to establish probable cause for the warrant, she called their request to unlock any phone on the premises with biometrics “overbroad.” The request wasn’t limited to a particular person or device, and authorities would’ve been able to get everyone in the house to…

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CRTC Bans Cellphone Unlocking Fees, Orders All New Devices Be Unlocked – Business – CBC News

The era of having to pay cellular providers to unlock your cellphone will end this year. As of Dec. 1, cellphone customers can ask their provider to unlock their phones free of charge, the CRTC announced Thursday. At the same time, it said, all newly purchased mobile devices must be provided to customers unlocked. “It’s a big step forward,” said Rose Behar, senior reporter for the tech site MobileSyrup in Toronto. Telecoms often order locked phones from manufacturers that are programmed to work only with their service. Then they charge a fee — typically $50 —…

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