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Ex-Mozilla CTO: I was grilled for three hours at US airport by border cops

theregister.co.uk

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Re: Ex-Mozilla CTO: I was grilled for three hours at US airport by border cops

#61

Post by jniedrauer »

chuckgreenman wrote: post #2

I'm hoping that manufactures will start building a plausible deniability user profile you can log into while leaving your actual profile encrypted, appearing to be slack space. This kind of thuggery seems to be getting more common.

> I'm hoping that manufactures will start building a plausible deniability user profile

Deniable encryption can actually be very dangerous for people who are detained in places where torture is used. Even if you unlock your device, law enforcement have no proof that you have unlocked your real profile[0]. This is relevant to countries where people can be detained for not unlocking their devices, like Australia.

[0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deniable_encryption#Drawbacks

Re: Ex-Mozilla CTO: I was grilled for three hours at US airport by border cops

#62

Post by saiya-jin »

a012 wrote: post #28
alex_hitchins wrote: post #18

The message it sends to me is, never visit America. I appreciate horrible things likely happen in my own country, but this is just disgusting.

Or simply just leave yours at home, buy a burner phone on arrival.

For business? Yes if I have to, but thank god I don't.

For leisure? I mean, seriously, who would shell their own free time and money and risk being treated like this? You get 1000x better treatment in Iran as a visitor for example.

In fact, any country not currently in some sort of civil war is a better idea for a visit than US.

Re: Ex-Mozilla CTO: I was grilled for three hours at US airport by border cops

#64

Post by saiya-jin »

DigiMortal wrote: post #47
alex_hitchins wrote: post #18

The message it sends to me is, never visit America. I appreciate horrible things likely happen in my own country, but this is just disgusting.

America is awesome, I appreciate and know how lucky we are to be here.

> America is awesome, I appreciate and know how lucky we are to be here.

In which regard? Compared to which place?

Re: Ex-Mozilla CTO: I was grilled for three hours at US airport by border cops

#66

Post by maximilianroos »

mikeash wrote: post #14

Quick reminder: US citizens have an absolute right to reenter the country. Customs can temporarily detain you, but they cannot refuse entry. Any threat, whether implied or stated, that they will hold you until you unlock your device is not real. They can hold your stuff indefinitely, so be prepared to lose it if you go this route, but never unlock your device based on the idea that it’s the only way to go free. Non-c…

> They can hold your stuff indefinitely, so be prepared to lose it if you go this route

CBP do need reasonable suspicion to hold you belongings or do a forensic search of your computer (Cotterman 2013) - they can't just randomly take things on a whim. The longer they hold it, the higher standard required.

Re: Ex-Mozilla CTO: I was grilled for three hours at US airport by border cops

#67

Post by 8note »

arethuza wrote: post #4
mcv wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Keep data off your devices during travel, and download it once you're safe. If corporate, require external activation by someone from the company before the contents of your device are restored. That way you cannot be forced to divulge any company trade secrets, because you simply don't have access to them while you're crossing the border.

So what if you are asked if your device is in its normal state or whether you deleted any data from your device before travelling? Lying in that situation would seem like a very bad idea (I'm not a US national) - I've had a few uncomfortable experiences over the years entering the US and I certainly wouldn't want to do anything that would give cause to escalate things on their side.

yes, I'm not importing that data to the USA?

Re: Ex-Mozilla CTO: I was grilled for three hours at US airport by border cops

#68

Post by maximilianroos »

ProAm wrote: post #65

It would be nice if phone and laptops had removable batteries, so we literally could not turn them on until we got to our destination and buy a new battery.

I would worry the resources of the US government may extend to spare batteries

Re: Ex-Mozilla CTO: I was grilled for three hours at US airport by border cops

#69

Post by realusername »

microcolonel wrote: post #58
musha68k wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Quick reminder: Non US citizens only go to conferences outside the US. There is no excuse we should put up with this. Canada and EU are much better locations for this reason alone.

This is not remotely unique to the U.S.

No it's not but this kind of issue tends to happen more frequently in the US.

Re: Ex-Mozilla CTO: I was grilled for three hours at US airport by border cops

#70

Post by mcv »

BenMorganIO wrote: post #43
droithomme wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Like you I don't do Facebook and I have every Facebook domain blocked. No one except my immediate family believes I don't use Facebook and considers it an affront when I say I don't use it in response to their request "What's your Facebook?" Many people can't imagine anyone doesn't have a Facebook account. Anyone who says they don't is presumed a liar who is socially rejecting them by refusing to connect. With TSA/Cu…

2019 appears to have lots of students who, although always on their phone, a good bunch don't have Facebook and consider it outdated. Instagram is the new Facebook.

Instagram is still Facebook.
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