New Zealand travellers refusing digital search now face $5k Customs fine

Post by firethief » Mon, Oct 01, 2018, 4:11 PM UTC

paradite wrote: post #234

yholio wrote: post #210

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But that's true for all encryption and privacy technology, it has dual use. We as a society must find the right balance and say, ok, there's no reasonable justification for owning 1 pound of plutonium, but there is a legitimate case for high encryption and privacy. This forum largely believes that the balance struck by New Zealand - that you don't have the right to data privacy when traveling - is completely unaccept…

Let me ask you this hypothetical question instead: What if we have a "physical encryption" technology that allows encrypting physical objects so that X-ray scanners, drug detecting methods or metal detectors cannot see through them? Would customs be allowed to ask for the decryption key? Or should the customs just ignore whatever encrypted inside?

Post by NullPrefix » Mon, Oct 01, 2018, 4:12 PM UTC

jliptzin wrote: post #233

This happened to me driving from the US into Canada with my significant other on a short vacation. After some routine questioning, the agent asked for our phones and passwords. Naturally, I hesitated and wanted to know why he needed to go through our phones. He didn't give a reason, but said if I refuse they'd hold us until their forensics team cracks the phone password anyway. I wanted to make a bigger deal about it…

Post by ehrtt » Mon, Oct 01, 2018, 4:12 PM UTC

paradite wrote: post #234

yholio wrote: post #210

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But that's true for all encryption and privacy technology, it has dual use. We as a society must find the right balance and say, ok, there's no reasonable justification for owning 1 pound of plutonium, but there is a legitimate case for high encryption and privacy. This forum largely believes that the balance struck by New Zealand - that you don't have the right to data privacy when traveling - is completely unaccept…

Let me ask you this hypothetical question instead: What if we have a "physical encryption" technology that allows encrypting physical objects so that X-ray scanners, drug detecting methods or metal detectors cannot see through them? Would customs be allowed to ask for the decryption key? Or should the customs just ignore whatever encrypted inside?

Post by hugh-avherald » Mon, Oct 01, 2018, 4:13 PM UTC

ObsoleteNerd wrote: post #132

titzer wrote: post #50

How does this work for employer-provided devices? I'd be violating my employment contract and could be fired for providing customs with my password.

I worked in a role that had rather strict rules about our devices and data. We were given a different phone and laptop to take when traveling, and VPN'd back to the office once there to access our files. The devices were just entry level Blackberry/iPhones and Thinkpads (this was a decade or so ago) with nothing on them except a local copy of the corporate contact list. No email accounts set up, no calendar set up, e…

Post by paradite » Mon, Oct 01, 2018, 4:13 PM UTC

firethief wrote: post #262

paradite wrote: post #234

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Let me ask you this hypothetical question instead: What if we have a "physical encryption" technology that allows encrypting physical objects so that X-ray scanners, drug detecting methods or metal detectors cannot see through them? Would customs be allowed to ask for the decryption key? Or should the customs just ignore whatever encrypted inside?

Can we also download physical objects after we go through the checkpoint?