Bowe v. United States

On January 9, 2026, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit heard the case of Bowe v. United States. Plaintiff John Bowe, a cybersecurity researcher, alleged that FBI agents violated his Fourth Amendment rights by compelling him, via a National Security Letter, to unlock encrypted hard drives without a warrant. The government argued the data was critical to a cyberterrorism investigation. Bowe refused, claiming the NSL was unconstitutional and that compliance would force self-incrimination. The case raises critical questions about the balance between national security and individual digital privacy rights in the modern era.

The Ninth Circuit ruled in favor of John Bowe, finding that compelling decryption under the specific circumstances amounted to testimonial compelled speech, violating the Fifth Amendment, and that the NSL provision authorizing such compulsion was unconstitutional as applied without a warrant. The government was ordered to cease enforcement of the NSL against Bowe.

Whether compelling an individual to decrypt and unlock personal digital storage devices using a National Security Letter, without a warrant based on probable cause, constitutes a violation of the Fourth Amendment protection against unreasonable searches and seizures.

The ruling set a significant precedent for digital privacy, affirming that the government cannot use national security letters to bypass warrant requirements for decrypting data. It sparked widespread debate on encryption backdoors, with tech companies and civil liberties groups hailing it as a victory for user privacy, while law enforcement agencies expressed concern over its impact on counterterrorism efforts.