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US Customs block Canadian man after reading his Scruff profile

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Re: US Customs block Canadian man after reading his Scruff profile

#141

Post by NamTaf »

rowanseymour wrote: post #138
NamTaf wrote: post #48

Over the last few years I've gone from wanting to visit the US and planning it as one of the next few holidays I'd like to do, to wanting to visit the US but holding off until 'later', to now simply not wanting to visit due to these sort of policies and actions at the border. It's a shame; US citizens are generally lovely people, the US natural environment is beautiful and, hell, the US makes killer craft beers that…

Only 19% of the US population voted for Trump, and only a portion of those actually wanted people to be harassed at airports. There are a lot bad things happening right now, but for the most part, the US hasn't changed fundamentally in the last month, and it's still full of great people and amazing places to visit.

This existed before Trump. That's why I said 'the last few years'. It seems like the US government has had a steady drift towards police state for some time. This is reflected in many facets of the government's approach to authority, for exmaple the militarisation of police forces, border controls, TSA, etc. etc.

Re: US Customs block Canadian man after reading his Scruff profile

#142

Post by NamTaf »

te_chris wrote: post #59
NamTaf wrote: post #48

Over the last few years I've gone from wanting to visit the US and planning it as one of the next few holidays I'd like to do, to wanting to visit the US but holding off until 'later', to now simply not wanting to visit due to these sort of policies and actions at the border. It's a shame; US citizens are generally lovely people, the US natural environment is beautiful and, hell, the US makes killer craft beers that…

Go to NZ. Natural wonder of the world and the craft beer is killer. You'll thank me.

Being on the east coast of AU, I'm well aware and love visiting it. :) You're absolutely right, more people should visit NZ!

Also, Garage Project do phenomenal work. Love their stuff.

Re: US Customs block Canadian man after reading his Scruff profile

#143

Post by rtpg »

danm07 wrote: post #137

I'm Canadian running a company in California, and every time I cross the border, I get pulled into the office for an hour. There was one time last year where I got detained for 8 because they didn't believe that a college dropout could run a company, even calling me "full of shit" at one point. They had my computer and went through my email one by one asking me to cite specific dates of employment at 3am in the morni…

what does this even accomplish? Are there quotas for rejecting people?

The only reasonable explanation apart from quotas I can come up with is that they want to harass people.

Re: US Customs block Canadian man after reading his Scruff profile

#145

Post by EmielMols »

ojii wrote: post #116
kennywinker wrote: post #49

Everyone proposing clever technical solutions. Burner phones and encrypted cloud data etc... you are solving the wrong problem. Instead of engineering a way for the few people who care deeply to avoid this at great effort, engineer a way for this to not be legal. Write your congressperson, donate time and money to political parties, make privacy at the border for ALL (not just citizens) a priority in every election.

And for people who are not US citizens, the solution is pretty simple too: Don't travel to the US.

This. If travel is avoidable or exchangeable for another destination, just don't go to the states.

As a EU citizen that visited Iran last year I'm no longer eligible for ESTA (visaless entry) and that - combined with these horrific border control policies - honestly made the threshold for me to visit so high, I'll probably never visit again.

Re: US Customs block Canadian man after reading his Scruff profile

#146

Post by yestoallthat »

xroche wrote: post #67

Beyond the obvious privacy issue, there is a more general worrying pattern here. The fact we give mediocre, frustrated, under-waged people, some power, with minimum control. This is not a condescending remark, and I truly think the root of all these incidents (and this also include other abuse of power) lies here. Think of sadistic guards in prison, think of police officers coldly killing black teens. These all are p…

I'd say that goes all the way to the top, and "get a revenge on their meaningless life by using the only relevant element they have: their power" holds true right to the zenith of current power structures. Which is not to disagree, or to take away from the fact that in the end, there's rarely abusers who aren't also victims. Just beating on them, whether poor goons or rich goons, doesn't help. Nor does just pleading. Respectfully establishing boundaries does, but that requires cooperation of all the environment.

Re: US Customs block Canadian man after reading his Scruff profile

#147

Post by rtpg »

chipperyman573 wrote: post #119
mcpherrinm wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In some Canadian airports, there's "pre-clearance", where you go through American customs while still on Canadian soil. Right now, they can't hold you, because you're in Canada -- so if they aren't going to let you in, you can just leave, back into Canada. There was a recent (Canadian) bill that gives US customs the ability to hold and search in pre-clearance, in Canada.

If the alternative is just to go back to Canada, why would they want to hold you anyway?

Let's say during the search they find a conspiracy to commit a crime in the US. They want to hold you, extradite you to the US, and throw you in jail.

Re: US Customs block Canadian man after reading his Scruff profile

#148

Post by hd4 »

dbg31415 wrote: post #63

Here's what I want: A way to hit a button and have the contents of my laptop or phone encrypted locally, shipped off to some secure cloud storage, and then purged from my laptop. I'll take the empty device through. I can just tell them that it's a gift for a friend, or something work asked me to bring over to a co-worker. Then when I'm on the other side, I hit the button... download, decrypt, and restore my stuff --…

I find it more surprising that such a thing hasn't been done yet, or is too painful using existing tools. But you've definitely inspired me to give it a try.

Re: US Customs block Canadian man after reading his Scruff profile

#149

Post by wvenable »

mc32 wrote: post #66
kennywinker wrote: post #49

Everyone proposing clever technical solutions. Burner phones and encrypted cloud data etc... you are solving the wrong problem. Instead of engineering a way for the few people who care deeply to avoid this at great effort, engineer a way for this to not be legal. Write your congressperson, donate time and money to political parties, make privacy at the border for ALL (not just citizens) a priority in every election.

I can see members of congress agreeing to privacy right at the border for citizens --only a very few would support the same for non-citizens, even Dems. There is no political upside to that position and it serves a very small percentage of Americans, indirectly, so, that's not going to fly.

There are many places in the US where a significant part of the economy comes from tourism.

Re: US Customs block Canadian man after reading his Scruff profile

#150

Post by Karlozkiller »

abandonliberty wrote: post #72
mc32 wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can see members of congress agreeing to privacy right at the border for citizens --only a very few would support the same for non-citizens, even Dems. There is no political upside to that position and it serves a very small percentage of Americans, indirectly, so, that's not going to fly.

You're mostly right. At some point these experiences may affect tourism, business, and desirable immigration. But it's probably too distant of an effect to have that much political capital.

How is it distant? I have friends and colleagues who are already thinking about skipping going to he US on business trips for this reason.

On a slightly different note. Can this be used to send people home even if they are not bringing a device? I mean, wouldn't it be suspicious to not bring a computer or phone? And if border police are as arbitrary as people say, why not send people away for not having devices that could be unlocked. It would be suspicious couldn't it?

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