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Man sues feds after being detained for refusing to unlock his phone at airport

arstechnica.com

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Re: Man sues feds after being detained for refusing to unlock his phone at airport

#121

Post by dijit »

Rumperuu wrote: post #119
dijit wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are you me? Had a really similar experience until I said that “this is the cheapest rub job I’ve ever gotten” and winked at him. He didn’t appreciate that. Tbh I seem to be making it my life’s work to be a little shit at airport security. I will _never_ use the millimetre scanner which seems to be a huge point of contentenion. And, while not TSA, the Gatwick airport security were trying very hard to convince me that…

What happens if you decline the millimetre scanner in a UK airport? Gov't guidance states that ‘...the individual must either be screened by an alternative method which includes at least an enhanced hand search in private...’ [0]. Is that just a standard pat-down, or is it more ‘eeny meeny miney mo, I wonder where my glove will go?’ [0] https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachm...

They make it look more intimidating than it is, it's a standard pat-down in a room, the most invasive thing they did was put a finger in my waistband and rub around it.

Same as a normal in-public patdown tbh.

Re: Man sues feds after being detained for refusing to unlock his phone at airport

#122

Post by dijit »

philpem wrote: post #107
dijit wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are you me? Had a really similar experience until I said that “this is the cheapest rub job I’ve ever gotten” and winked at him. He didn’t appreciate that. Tbh I seem to be making it my life’s work to be a little shit at airport security. I will _never_ use the millimetre scanner which seems to be a huge point of contentenion. And, while not TSA, the Gatwick airport security were trying very hard to convince me that…

Wow. I thought the experience I had with Gatwick was a one-off... :( These days I aim for London City or Leeds-Bradford if I can, Heathrow is my second choice, and I'll actively avoid Gatwick and Manchester unless there's no other alternative. I keep meaning to try Glasgow or Edinburgh for departures... I've flown into Edinburgh due to a KLM screw-up but never departed from there.

Oh, interesting! Would you be willing to share your gatwick story?

I had no idea it was usually like this.

Re: Man sues feds after being detained for refusing to unlock his phone at airport

#123

Post by dijit »

philpem wrote: post #103
zachberger wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree. I went through the TSA checkpoint at the United Premier Access this last Tuesday. They have the new automated bin return system. Some of the people who travel less frequently were leaving the bins behind instead of putting them in the machine to be returned to the front. The TSA agent shouted at them repeatedly, "do any of you read English? Can't you read the damn sign?" While he pointed at the instructions.…

I had this at Gatwick last year... "Hey idiot, get your goddamn bags off the (expletive) belt! Hurry the hell up!" At which point another passenger decided to take advantage of the confusion and tried to steal my phone... "God (expletive) damn you! Are you trying to make my (expletive) life hard?! Just take your bags and go, you're holding up my line!" Approached the airport, "we do not comment on security matters".…

The laptop thing is actually common.

Confirming the functionality of laptops (especially larger or older ones) is within the guidelines Just making sure it's not a bomb.

Easy to bypass though, just like all security theatre.

Re: Man sues feds after being detained for refusing to unlock his phone at airport

#124

Post by kmlx »

philpem wrote: post #103
zachberger wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree. I went through the TSA checkpoint at the United Premier Access this last Tuesday. They have the new automated bin return system. Some of the people who travel less frequently were leaving the bins behind instead of putting them in the machine to be returned to the front. The TSA agent shouted at them repeatedly, "do any of you read English? Can't you read the damn sign?" While he pointed at the instructions.…

I had this at Gatwick last year... "Hey idiot, get your goddamn bags off the (expletive) belt! Hurry the hell up!" At which point another passenger decided to take advantage of the confusion and tried to steal my phone... "God (expletive) damn you! Are you trying to make my (expletive) life hard?! Just take your bags and go, you're holding up my line!" Approached the airport, "we do not comment on security matters".…

Helsinki: "why am i being checked?" smiles looking stupid "no really, why am i being checked" "i don't know, i just work here" "so you just follow orders blindly? can someone explain what's going on" no one could explain anything because Helsinki airport is a piece of..., same as Gatwick or Luton.

regarding TSA, since I don't have facebook, snapchat, instagram it's always scary talking to them.

Re: Man sues feds after being detained for refusing to unlock his phone at airport

#125

Post by dijit »

jpatokal wrote: post #120
dijit wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are you me? Had a really similar experience until I said that “this is the cheapest rub job I’ve ever gotten” and winked at him. He didn’t appreciate that. Tbh I seem to be making it my life’s work to be a little shit at airport security. I will _never_ use the millimetre scanner which seems to be a huge point of contentenion. And, while not TSA, the Gatwick airport security were trying very hard to convince me that…

Don't come to Australia: no opt-outs here, either you submit to the scan or you don't fly today.

I had no idea.

Thanks for informing me, I will (with a heavy heart) strike Australia off my list of available working/visiting places.

The new laws surrounding encryption should have tipped me off.

Thanks for letting me know. :)

Re: Man sues feds after being detained for refusing to unlock his phone at airport

#126

Post by zaarn »

gammateam wrote: post #87
zaarn wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Abmahnung is not a proper lawsuit, it's a mostly legal way to get parties to agree in case of a legal dispute without having to actually involve a court. You can ask to be reimbursed for incurred costs for up to 1000€. The current government is working no reducing the abuse of this legal mechanism. Sending one of these requires you also to clearly show how the recipient infringed on your rights or a law that affects…

Very informative, sounds like a litigious society I’ll take “Semantical distinctions I dont have to care about” for $200, Alex

I take semantical distinctions that are very important because those are important in the law because law isn't made by people that don't care about it for 300$.

Re: Man sues feds after being detained for refusing to unlock his phone at airport

#127

Post by rypskar »

philpem wrote: post #103
zachberger wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree. I went through the TSA checkpoint at the United Premier Access this last Tuesday. They have the new automated bin return system. Some of the people who travel less frequently were leaving the bins behind instead of putting them in the machine to be returned to the front. The TSA agent shouted at them repeatedly, "do any of you read English? Can't you read the damn sign?" While he pointed at the instructions.…

I had this at Gatwick last year... "Hey idiot, get your goddamn bags off the (expletive) belt! Hurry the hell up!" At which point another passenger decided to take advantage of the confusion and tried to steal my phone... "God (expletive) damn you! Are you trying to make my (expletive) life hard?! Just take your bags and go, you're holding up my line!" Approached the airport, "we do not comment on security matters".…

In Norway we can click on smiley faces after security to say how the experience was, going from good to bad, there was an article in the news the other day about how they used the results from this survey for setting bonuses for the agents working in the different airports

Re: Man sues feds after being detained for refusing to unlock his phone at airport

#128

Post by jcbrand »

h0l0cube wrote: post #50
peterwwillis wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Most Americans don't protect their data, because most Americans aren't potentially going to be set up by their government to be made to look like some kind of terrorist. If you happen to be non-white or non-christian or have such as family or who live in a majority Muslim country, then you probably do want to protect yourself against this eventuality. In that case, either bring a dumb/brick phone for them to search,…

A 'blame the victim' mentality gives breathing space to the bully. 'Blame the bully' and at least they might apply some discretion, to counter negative attention to themselves or their superiors. Enforcement jobs, including border patrol, can self-select for sadists and racists, so it's probably best the public remains vigilant to the prospect of their increasing power.

Of course it would be better if the "bully" was removed or reformed.

However, until that happens (which might be never), it's prudent to protect yourself, and telling people that they must take precautions for their own safety and well-being is not "blaming the victim".

Re: Man sues feds after being detained for refusing to unlock his phone at airport

#129

Post by Broken_Hippo »

rypskar wrote: post #127
philpem wrote: post #103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I had this at Gatwick last year... "Hey idiot, get your goddamn bags off the (expletive) belt! Hurry the hell up!" At which point another passenger decided to take advantage of the confusion and tried to steal my phone... "God (expletive) damn you! Are you trying to make my (expletive) life hard?! Just take your bags and go, you're holding up my line!" Approached the airport, "we do not comment on security matters".…

In Norway we can click on smiley faces after security to say how the experience was, going from good to bad, there was an article in the news the other day about how they used the results from this survey for setting bonuses for the agents working in the different airports

I am American, living in Norway. I got searched while coming home from Amsterdam. Its OK, I understand, it is Amsterdam, after all, and they want to make sure I'm not smuggling stuff. And I pack very lightly, which doesn't help matters at all.

I've never been treated so well while being searched. The guy was kind and polite and smiled a little. I also learned that in his opinion, Americans were usually pretty easy to deal with, but more nervous in general. He thought it was because we (Americans) were used to a more authoritarian-acting police.

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