It seems like a bad idea to store anything incriminating on your local hard drive. Why not keep your encrypted files on a flash drive? If the police show up destroy the flash drive using a hammer, ensuring that the flash memory chip is thoroughly pulverized and completely unreadable.
Likewise, if you are going to be using the internet for devious purposes drive around and use a neighbor's open wireless network access point, which highly reduces the chances that anything can be traced back to you. Or set up your own unsecured wireless network point and suggest to officers that illegal use came from an outside source.
Not that I want to condone illegal activities, or condone lying to police officers, but to the hacker in me these seem like simple, sensible steps to take that will be more dependable than even a 50 character password.
But my goal is not to be a smart criminal. My goal is to have a right to privacy to my own stuff.
That said, I don't see why the well-established precedents of opening locked doors and safes shouldn't apply to computers. If you subpoena my safe, I have to open it for you. Otherwise, I certainly won't.
Intentionally destroying incriminating evidence is probably not something you should ever do. Certainly not in such a way that leaves evidence in the form of pulverized IC remains all over your kitchen counter.
Depends on what it's evidence of. If you're destroying evidence of murder, treason, or something else that'd guarantee you a life/death sentence, an obstruction of justice charge isn't going to seem like very much in comparison.
Usually there'll be a reason for the police to kick your door down. I imagine that plus destroyed evidence would be enough to prove beyond reasonable doubt.
There might be all sorts of reasons - if you're being busted for fraud or tax evasion and all of your hard drives are mysteriously blank, or there are empty filing cabinets and a big pile of ash then I would imagine that would go down fairly badly in court.
The modern equivalent is a whole bunch of destroyed media - thumb drives, flash cards or hard drives.
Maybe you just put your private data on flash drives and smash it to bits with a hammer for your own personal privacy, or to get rid of pictures of an ex-girlfriend. There's no way of knowing.
I understand that in some areas, not only is it illegal to operate an insecure wireless access point (in the UK at least), you can be held accountable for the actions of people that use the access point.
That doesn't cover you for swap files / hibernate files or memory dumps which are written unencrypted and largely outside your control. Obviously it's hit or miss what may or may not be included in there but there are a fair number of leaks where even "secure" information is handled in an insecure fashion.
My understanding is that the "oops Agent Smith, my WiFi was unsecured" is not legally feasible, or is going away.. you are responsible for access to your pipe. Which sucks... heh.
That doesn't sound feasible to me, because there are so many older people and non-technically savy individuals who don't know how to secure their wireless access point. In addition, some models don't support security that is strong enough to prevent hacking, or they are set up using default or easy to guess passwords. Lastly, many wireless points are deliberately left open so that they can be used by customers of cafes, etc.
So in summary, I seriously doubt that you can be held responsible for another person's use of your pipe.
The MPAA telling you that is no different than me telling you that. I have no legal authority to do so, no matter how many lawyer's names appear on my letterhead.
Likewise, if you are going to be using the internet for devious purposes drive around and use a neighbor's open wireless network access point, which highly reduces the chances that anything can be traced back to you. Or set up your own unsecured wireless network point and suggest to officers that illegal use came from an outside source.
Not that I want to condone illegal activities, or condone lying to police officers, but to the hacker in me these seem like simple, sensible steps to take that will be more dependable than even a 50 character password.