Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

US Customs block Canadian man after reading his Scruff profile

dailyxtra.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

391–398 of 398 posts

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

#391

Post by dbg31415 »

macintux wrote: post #268
gspetr wrote: post #219

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not sure I read the parent same way you did. What he proposed is a way to circumvent border data check by having no data on your devices during that time. If there's no encrypted data then device passwords will do nothing for them.

Did you fail to notice that the 2nd time the Canadian tried to visit he was turned away because he had no data on his phone?

So throw the phone in a gift box and tell them you're bringing it to a friend who lost theirs because of the exchange rate. Plausible deniability, right? Throw your SIM card into an old Nokia 3310 if you're worried about them thinking you don't have a working phone...

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

#392

Post by ohstopitu »

Buge wrote: post #377
ohstopitu wrote: post #314

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is not exactly true. * Canadian' border can ask you for your local passwords. * You can refuse - at which point, if you are Canadian/PR, you are allowed to enter the country but your device is confiscated and sent to Ottawa for further examination. * They can NOT ask for online passwords (like your dropbox account for example). THAT SAID, if you give them your local password, and you are logged in to Dropbox, it…

Then why was Alain Philippon arrested and charged with a crime? http://www.canada-usblog.com/2016/08/16/the-waiting-game-we-...

because he refused to hand over the local passwords for his devices.

I am not saying what the CBSA did was legal (as the case was dropped), but not handing over local passwords is considered "obstruction of the officer's job" by the CBSA (for which he was charged).

So I'm assuming that if they did want to charge you, they could.

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

#393

Post by socket0 »

b3lvedere wrote: post #318
socket0 wrote: post #201

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's likely to be a red flag and used against you. Remember, as a non-US citizen, border guards don't have to prove you're guilty of anything. Any suspicion, no matter how trivial or unreasonable, and you have to be able to convincingly prove your own innocence. No electronic devices will probably simply result in them asking for the passwords to your accounts on Facebook, Google, Twitter, etc.

Then all bets are off, i guess. How am i suppose to prove i have no Facebook account? I really do not have a Facebook account. :)

If they're really interested, they'll probably just Google you. Or use something they purchased for tens of millions of dollars, that simply performs a Google search. If you're an older person, and have no online footprint, they probably wouldn't have stopped you in the first place. If you're young, and have no online footprint, that would be pretty suspicious.

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

#394

Post by Buge »

ohstopitu wrote: post #392
Buge wrote: post #377

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Then why was Alain Philippon arrested and charged with a crime? http://www.canada-usblog.com/2016/08/16/the-waiting-game-we-...

because he refused to hand over the local passwords for his devices. I am not saying what the CBSA did was legal (as the case was dropped), but not handing over local passwords is considered "obstruction of the officer's job" by the CBSA (for which he was charged). So I'm assuming that if they did want to charge you, they could.

But you said "You can refuse". His case proves that's not true.

And his case wasn't dropped. He plead guilty.

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

#395

Post by pmiller2 »

rtpg wrote: post #147
chipperyman573 wrote: post #119

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Wait. In that case, wouldn't the crime (conspiracy) have taken place in Canada? There should be no extradition, then.

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

#396

Post by b6 »

kazinator wrote: post #389
b6 wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's funny, but I don't think it does much good to think of somebody as dumb. If you or I were actually them, we would be doing the same job. Everyone is getting swept up and used by processes that are too big for them to see.

I can't speak for you the way you think you can speak for me, but I wouldn't be one of them.

Sorry, I didn't mean for it to sound as if I was speaking for you. What I meant was, if you were actually them, you would be doing the same things they are. Maybe this seems tautological, but I think it's an insight that helps one to be compassionate.

If my current mind were to be downloaded somehow into the other guy's body, would I be a border patrol agent? No! But that weird hybrid person never existed and never will. If I had been born as he did, and had the same brain, and gone through the same experiences (in other words, if I were actually him), I would be doing exactly the same things.

This realization that people are doing the best they can (usually very unskillfully) can help us be compassionate toward them.

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

#397

Post by danm07 »

mdekkers wrote: post #188
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…

Why run a company in California?

We were in the online-video space, which made sense to be based in LA.

Our investor was also based in California, which made sense to leverage his network there to raise subsequent rounds of funding.

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

#398

Post by kahnpro »

derrickdirge wrote: post #251
kahnpro wrote: post #239

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you're a foreigner, Canada will just detain you and deport you. But a Canadian citizen they will arrest and charge with obstruction of their job.

Is job obstruction illegal in Canada?

It's specifically illegal to obstruct the work of customs officers, and it's what they were charging someone with who refused to give up his phone password. That guy ended up pleading out the day before his trial.
Post reply on HN