Ian
RIPA part III definitely allows forgetfulness as a defence (s53(3)). However the blog suggests that the question in this case was actually whether it was plausible that someone would use such an unmemorable password (40-50 *random* characters, the blog suggests) and not write it down. The jury appear to have concluded that it wasn’t plausible, therefore there must be a written copy somewhere that the defendant was refusing to disclose. So the defendant failed to "adduce sufficient evidence to raise an issue" of whether he was still in possession of the (written) password.
There are ways of generating memorable passwords of that length that don't need to be written down (the passphrase for my digital signature is of that order), but using a random number generator doesn't seem to be one of them.
Andrew
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> -----Original Message-----
> From: This list is for those interested in Data Protection issues
> [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Ian Welton
> Sent: 05 January 2011 17:11
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: Passwords question
>
> The issue started as a discussion over ethical reporting and the ethics
> of organisational press releases, so most of the coverage/discussions
> pertained to those areas, with legal blogs also debating if
> forgetfulness could be an acceptable defence.
>
> It was conjectured that
> some of the issue for the courts was the strength of encryption.
>
> A
> reasonably full media write up was:-
> http://www.newstatesman.com/blogs/the-staggers/2010/10/police-drage-
> password-sex
>
> A Happy New Year to all.
>
> Ian W
>
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