UK Man Jailed for Not Divulging PGP Encryption Password to Investigators – RIPA Part III Section 49
A UK man, said to be a schizophrenic, has been jailed for not divulging to police investigators the PGP encryption password to his computer. This is the first imprisonment under the United Kingdom’s Part III of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act. RIPA Part III provides a statutory framework enabling public authorities to require protected (eg. encrypted) information which they have obtained to be put into an intelligible form (ie. decrypted), to acquire the means to gain access to protected information and to acquire the means to put protected data into an intelligible form.
In other words, UK authorities can demand the password to a laptop, password to encryption software, or encryption key.
The authorities must file a Section 49 notice demanding the disclosure of the key or password. Failure to provide such information is a criminal offense, and you could be indicted for a maximum of 5 years imprisonment if the disclosure is in the interests of national security, or 2 years for other cases.
There can be stipulations that the recipient of a Section 49 disclosure demand notice not disclose that they have been served the notice.
You can find more from the UK Home Office for Security and Counter Terrorism.