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Canada Border Services seizes lawyer's phone, laptop for not sharing passwords

cbc.ca

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Re: Canada Border Services seizes lawyer's phone, laptop for not sharing passwords

#252
post #99

I have asked this question before, but never really got a satisfiable answer: why do governments (not just USA/canada) spend these resources to check data physically at a border? It's not like you need to 'smuggle' any form of data physically. I mean, any data considered to be dangerous (like terrorist attack plans, atomic bomb designs or political inside information) can be accessed across borders via the internet.…

Canada is successful 38% of the time when checking electronics. Common scenarios are seeing text messages showing someone has accepted a new job and will be working while on a visa waiver/tourist stay, or planning to get married while on a work visa.

Re: Canada Border Services seizes lawyer's phone, laptop for not sharing passwords

#253

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you're THAT worried, then securely reformat disk and reinstall OS just before travel.

This action can be flagged as suspicious as well, triggering a deeper investigation into the traveler. It's not always feasible, but the most secure way to protect clients'/employers' data is to encrypt the laptop and phone and ship to your destination via standard shipping services, then ship them back the same way before leaving for home. Carry a well used but non-critical burner laptop ($50 Chromebook off Craigsli…

> This action can be flagged as suspicious as well, triggering a deeper investigation into the traveler.

More and more people are probably doing this so this is going to stop being suspicious.

Re: Canada Border Services seizes lawyer's phone, laptop for not sharing passwords

#254
post #2

> He said the officer then confiscated his phone and laptop, and told him the items would be sent to a government lab which would try to crack his passwords and search his files. Hopefully they were powered down and used proper full-disk encryption.

> Hopefully they were powered down and used proper full-disk encryption.

What exactly is full-disk encryption? How do I do it the way a government lab won't be able to crack it?

Re: Canada Border Services seizes lawyer's phone, laptop for not sharing passwords

#255
post #99

I have asked this question before, but never really got a satisfiable answer: why do governments (not just USA/canada) spend these resources to check data physically at a border? It's not like you need to 'smuggle' any form of data physically. I mean, any data considered to be dangerous (like terrorist attack plans, atomic bomb designs or political inside information) can be accessed across borders via the internet.…

>It's not like you need to 'smuggle' any form of data physically. The data may be a by-product of using the device. I suspect they are primarly looking for communications data that is bound to be on every device that is actively used to communicate. The more end-to-end encryption is used the more interesting the ends become. >And even if you had the data on a laptop, how does border patrol even know what they are loo…

>The more end-to-end encryption is used the more interesting the ends become.

That is such a great line that encompasses about why more and more the ends of the end-to-end encryption are being attacked.

Re: Canada Border Services seizes lawyer's phone, laptop for not sharing passwords

#256

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How does the low paid border security drone even know you have a cloud storage account? What country do you live in that has to worry about people being tortured to death on a frequent basis? This stuff just doesn't happen often, despite what a silly XKCD comic would lead you to believe. Encryption actually works pretty damn well, for basically all usecases that a normal person would come across. The world is not a J…

You're not going to be tortured to death, but there are quite a few things that the government can do to make your life miserable.

The $5 wrench isn’t what most people have to worry about; it’s the 5-hour detention without charge.

Re: Canada Border Services seizes lawyer's phone, laptop for not sharing passwords

#257
post #99

I have asked this question before, but never really got a satisfiable answer: why do governments (not just USA/canada) spend these resources to check data physically at a border? It's not like you need to 'smuggle' any form of data physically. I mean, any data considered to be dangerous (like terrorist attack plans, atomic bomb designs or political inside information) can be accessed across borders via the internet.…

Canada is successful 38% of the time when checking electronics. Common scenarios are seeing text messages showing someone has accepted a new job and will be working while on a visa waiver/tourist stay, or planning to get married while on a work visa.

However, in this case, they're checking the electronics of a Canadian citizen who has every right to be in the country.

Re: Canada Border Services seizes lawyer's phone, laptop for not sharing passwords

#258

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When I was a grad student I worried about this, since I was required to keep study participant data and student data confidential. Sounds like this lawyer arrived at the same plan I did: Refuse the request, file a lawsuit, and contact the media when released to shame the government that saw fit to violate my rights.

Encrypt the data (probably easiest way is to use encrypted 7z archive), memorize the password, upload the encrypted data into any cloud storage (e.g. Google Drive) and don't care about disclosing anything on your devices.

I don't know about the US, but here in The Netherlands the technical cops are aware of cold boot attack. As a lawyer crossing a border you should use a device with a secure enclave, and have the device off. Or better: don't cross the border with your device.

Re: Canada Border Services seizes lawyer's phone, laptop for not sharing passwords

#259

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Puritanism reloaded

Not in my case. I'm for the decriminalization of sex work, among other things. I'm just against raping children and generally mistreating poor people because you think you can get away with it. Keep it among genuinely consenting adults, and I don't care how many, what genders are involved, how you folks agree to get your freak on and yadda. Just one easily findable prior comment by me: https://news.ycombinator.com/it…

Terrorism, children, drugs, or sex; all excuses used for attacking individual liberty. Let's get real here, stuff like this is about control, not about security, and certainly Nota about morality...

That's just how politicians package it so the people swallow the poison pill.

That said, I feel like people vastly overestimate the similarity of governments of the US and the UKs vassal states like Canada, and that false expectation is part of why people get outraged. Once one understands this the authoritarian approach of the "Commonwealth" nations things make much more sense.

Re: Canada Border Services seizes lawyer's phone, laptop for not sharing passwords

#260
post #125

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's sickening to think that, despite the ban in Canada, countless innocent anime girls are being abused in Japan every day - many of them children! The UN should apply pressure to get Japan to stop this vile abuse, and import of cartoons into Japan should be banned, as their safety cannot be guaranteed there.

Fictional child pornography does not directly harm children, but it is likely that it does so indirectly by creating demand for actual CP. To me, it seems totally reasonable to make all sexualized depictions of children illegal for this reason.

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