What could happen if you refuse to unlock your phone at the US border?
1–10 of 494 posts
Re: What could happen if you refuse to unlock your phone at the US border?
#2> The short answer is: your device probably will be seized (or "detained" in CBP parlance), and you might be kept in physical detention—although no one seems to be sure exactly for how long.
This is a precarious situation to be in an I'm surprised if this does not violate some provision of the law. Worse, there have been conflicting judgments on similar cases [0, 1].
On a side note, can law itself be unbiased due to the nature of the cases heard in courts? A situation X regarding certain law LX might be heard 1000 times and would be more clear in contrast to a situation Y concerning with law LY as it went to court just 3 times. Can one computationally figure out laws which are unclear based on the number of times they are references in court judgments or some other similar parameters?
[0] https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2013/12/judge-wont-let-s...
[1] https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2015/05/warrantless-airp...
Re: What could happen if you refuse to unlock your phone at the US border?
#3Worth remembering: US citizens can play chicken with CBP and lose nothing more than their computer/phone hardware (perhaps having it returned 6 months later). But non-citizens, possibly including LPRs, cannot: if an alien attempts to cross the border with a device they can't unlock "because they don't have the corresponding 2FA token with them" (as one friend suggested they do), they'll be detained, their devices confiscated, and then put on a flight out of the country.
The current best practice for border crossings --- really anywhere in the world --- is simply not to carry anything you're unwilling to unlock for Customs.
This is going to get harder still. CBP will begin asking everyone for Facebook logins. You'll think of 10 different ways to conceal your Facebook doings from CBP, but CBP has advance traveler's manifests from flights and will know that people have profiles --- and, sometimes, what was on those profiles.
Re: What could happen if you refuse to unlock your phone at the US border?
#4Same result as if you refused to open a securely locked briefcase?
Re: What could happen if you refuse to unlock your phone at the US border?
#5Is it worth it to clear those devices and restore from cloud backup after crossing?
Re: What could happen if you refuse to unlock your phone at the US border?
#6The idea that our constitutional rights end at the border is such a travesty, contrary to everything our forefathers fought for, that alone is worthy of renewed revolution.
Re: What could happen if you refuse to unlock your phone at the US border?
#7Same result as if you refused to open a securely locked briefcase?
I know right? Phone lock screens could conceal bombs or invasive species.
Re: What could happen if you refuse to unlock your phone at the US border?
#8Worth remembering: US citizens can play chicken with CBP and lose nothing more than their computer/phone hardware (perhaps having it returned 6 months later). But non-citizens, possibly including LPRs, cannot: if an alien attempts to cross the border with a device they can't unlock "because they don't have the corresponding 2FA token with them" (as one friend suggested they do), they'll be detained, their devices con…
Yet another reason never to sign up for Facebook.
Re: What could happen if you refuse to unlock your phone at the US border?
#9> 4,444 cellphones and 320 other electronic devices were inspected in 2015
And recently I'm hearing about this -- it largely went ignored during the previous administration but now it's a major concern, articles on HN, my Facebook feed, Reddit, ...