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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

#131

Post by pmorici »

gabrielmoshe wrote: post #3

This is certainly not the first article of its kind, and the legality of such action seems to be upheld in court (at least the use of search without a warrant at the border). So, the selfish question then is: How do I protect myself from such unwarranted searches? Is there a way I can present my phone such that it drops into a mode that contains no data? Do I need to back my phone up before traveling, wipe it for the…

Use a separate phone for international travel. Don't connect it to any of your normal accounts.

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

#132

Post by smcl »

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.

From my experience, flying out of Edinburgh the staff have all been pleasant enough, but depending on your luck the queues at the security bit can be a bit annoying.

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

#133

Post by torgian »

petronio wrote: post #21
gabrielmoshe wrote: post #3

This is certainly not the first article of its kind, and the legality of such action seems to be upheld in court (at least the use of search without a warrant at the border). So, the selfish question then is: How do I protect myself from such unwarranted searches? Is there a way I can present my phone such that it drops into a mode that contains no data? Do I need to back my phone up before traveling, wipe it for the…

For mobile devices there are apps that will pretend to be something innocuous (say, a clock, or a flashlight app), and actually work as hidden storage. It would depend on whether the agents are using computerized inspection or manually looking through your phone (as they could easily build a blacklist of such apps), but if they're doing it manually and the app really does do the function it suggests it does and has a…

Cheap thinkpad, throw on some random software, browse with it for a month.

That's what I plan to do.

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

#134

Post by taejo »

TomMarius wrote: post #109
geggam wrote: post #106

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When you get technical about this 100 miles from every international airport is a border as well... How does that impact that map ?

There is no actual country border at any airport. It's an approximation that has its own rules and is not affected by the international treaty that sets these 100 miles.

The 100 miles have nothing to do with international treaty, but only American courts' interpretation of the fourth amendment.

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

#135

Post by kevingadd »

trevyn wrote: post #46
chillacy wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They’ll still detain you till you input your passcode. Or they’ll beat you with a rubber hose, if you’re in those parts of the world.

They can detain your phone, but if you're a US citizen, they can't detain you for very long.

ICE and CBP can, in practice, hold someone a very long time if they really want to. It just rarely happens.

https://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-citizens-ice-20180...

They can also make up imaginary charges against you to have you jailed, as cops in the US love to do. Any time an innocent person is gunned down, there's inevitably a story about how they 'charged the officer' or had a weapon or whatever, and then when evidence appears to contradict that, the lie is quietly retracted.

You might say 'well, I have my ID while traveling, so it's fine', but ID is not always considered proof of citizenship. They could drag you aside at security (or elsewhere), decide they don't like the look of you, and decide that your ID isn't proof that you're a citizen. Spend a week or two in jail.

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

#136

Post by TomMarius »

taejo wrote: post #134
TomMarius wrote: post #109

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is no actual country border at any airport. It's an approximation that has its own rules and is not affected by the international treaty that sets these 100 miles.

The 100 miles have nothing to do with international treaty, but only American courts' interpretation of the fourth amendment.

Isn't that based on the treaty? Sorry if I'm mistaken.

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

#137

Post by onetimemanytime »

ubersoldat2k7 wrote: post #108
onetimemanytime wrote: post #76

"Do as we say or you'll miss your flight" probably get 99.99% compliance. Most people have plans and "have nothing to hide," or so they think. Question: Why do they ask all these question about kids, schools, wife etc? Identity is established, the passport is legit because they can check it, WTH do they want?

It's normal interrogation techniques. They ask normal stuff to see if you lie or you get nervous. Just watch any of those airport security shows on TV to see how many people who end up smuggling stuff fail to answer those simple questions or change their story several times during the interrogation process.

I understand that...that's why they ask 100 times the same question in detective interviews. Truth is the same, but if you're lying you might refine it and eventually forget so you invent a new one.

So it's not to prove that you're John Doe but to see if you have anything suspicious with you or if you're up to no good.

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

#138

Post by mollusk »

dijit wrote: post #92
bpchaps wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Anecdote: About a year ago, I went through TSA and asked to opt out of the body scans in place of a pat down. Another agent on the side watched the whole thing and made kissing faces my way the whole time while making gay jokes. It was extremely belittling. Fuck TSA.

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…

> I will _never_ use the millimetre scanner

Genuinely curious, is there a reason for this, or are you just fucking with the security?

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

#140

Post by paxys »

ElCapitanMarkla wrote: post #104
bruceb wrote: post #22

The problem with Customs and Border Protection is the attitude. They do have a challenging job. 99%+ of travelers are legit and doing nothing nefarious. They have to pick out the ones who are not legit/up to no good. I have no problem with them asking questions of myself or other travelers, even a lot of questions. The problem is the attitude and abusive nature of their conduct. I have had this experience a couple ti…

I couldn't agree more. Just recently we visited Hawaii with our 6-month-old daughter. We were going through security and got pulled aside because one of the baby glass bottles was filled with water. About 20 mins of bomb testing and pat downs later and making us and our daughter drink the explosive water... To be fair most of the people working that day were fine, it was just one complete moron calling the shots that…

Wow that's terrible. Even if you suspect it isn't water, would you really make a baby drink it??
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