We have to wonder what is going on when a judge can rule that the password of a company phone is personal information that does not have to be disclosed in a criminal investigation. What is also interesting, is that both defendants have now fled to China. This could be a good book plot, if you are into fiction. Apparently, this judge is.
The two defendants are former employees of Capital One Financial Corp, and the SEC accursed them of making stock trades based on things they saw in a database of consumer information. The SEC wanted to see what their smartphones showed about some of those transactions, but couldn't get the data without the passwords, a testament to the improvements in security on smartphones these days. It seems like the real issue here is When is a Corporate Phone a Personal Phone? The legal answer will be - never. But, at least for now, it will be when a password is put on it by the user. Ownership seems to have nothing to do with it, nor the fact that his phone was purchased by the company to do corporate business - kind of the opposite situation that Hillary Clinton established. She used a personal email system to avoid having her records kept by the State Department. That one will go on forever, or as long as there is a Clinton running for public office. This one won't get past an appeal.
As to these two running off to China, we have to think about that more. Since when did China start being a safe haven for people tryinig to avoid criminal prosecution? We don't have an extradition treaty with China, so we really can't get them back. So, while they enjoy themselves, doing whatever they are doing now, our legal system protects them here, and China's system protects them there. What a mess....
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