Prosecutors in Denver are seeking a court order forcing the defendant in a bank-fraud case to unlock her computer in order to obtain files they would use to try to convict her and her ex-husband.

Civil-liberties groups nationwide have taken notice, saying the case tests the strength of rights against self-incrimination in a digital world. Prosecutors, meanwhile, say that allowing criminal defendants to beat search warrants simply by encrypting their computers would make it impossible to obtain evidence in an age when clues are more likely held within a hard drive than a file cabinet.

U.S. District Judge Robert Blackburn is expected to issue a ruling on the matter soon.

Source: The Denver Post