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ACTA will force border searches of laptops, smartphones for pirated content

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Re: ACTA will force border searches of laptops, smartphones for pirated content

#141

Post by batista »

I find it amusing about how this comment thread turned all about technical solutions (from hidden partitions, to encryption, to steganography, to dual booting, etc).

Now, I understand that as "hackers" we are likely to go on about technical measures to avert this kind of search. But, that's not the point. The point is they should not violate your privacy in the first place. And that is a political problem.

It would be nice if most of the comments were about how to avert ACTA in the first place. You, know, like SOPA, but even better.

Re: ACTA will force border searches of laptops, smartphones for pirated content

#142

Post by derleth »

gasull wrote: post #129
derleth wrote: post #116

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> fascism How this this fascism in particular and not, say, Communism?

In Communism (Stalinism), all the enterprises are owned by the Government. In Fascism the Government is owned by (some of) the corporations.

> In Fascism the Government is owned by (some of) the corporations.

No, in Fascism the government owns the corporations and uses them to control society.

Re: ACTA will force border searches of laptops, smartphones for pirated content

#143

Post by derleth »

batista wrote: post #141

I find it amusing about how this comment thread turned all about technical solutions (from hidden partitions, to encryption, to steganography, to dual booting, etc). Now, I understand that as "hackers" we are likely to go on about technical measures to avert this kind of search. But, that's not the point. The point is they should not violate your privacy in the first place. And that is a political problem. It would b…

> I find it amusing about how this comment thread turned all about technical solutions

And people using 'fascism' as a general-purpose pejorative with no understanding of the history of the world.

http://www.anesi.com/Fascism-TheUltimateDefinition.htm

Re: ACTA will force border searches of laptops, smartphones for pirated content

#144

Post by yason »

yason wrote: post #13

Regardless of ACTA, I have already established a personal policy to: 1) encrypt my partitions (other than root, to make upgrades and reinstalls easier; I use LUKS) 2) copy the essential first megabytes of each LUKS partition to my server or shell account somewhere, encrypted with GPG 3) fill that space with random data 4) travel and go through customs 5) access the GPG encrypted LUKS blocks over internet, decrypt and…

Few remarks:

- I don't find it reasonable for "them" to grill me too much. I don't need to hide my encrypted partitions or use hidden partitions. I'm not a target of any interest to any three-letter agencies or customs officials. But I don't want to start discussing unlocking my laptop with anyone, I want to make it a matter of "can't" instead of "won't".

- The friend scheme might not be necessary or a good choice. I could just say I have the decryption keys at home which is entirely true. I can still use the machine: I have just deselected a few partitions out of use permanently until I return home

Re: ACTA will force border searches of laptops, smartphones for pirated content

#145

Post by a_a_r_o_n »

a_a_r_o_n wrote: post #68
specialk16 wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is there something like this for Android? I have to travel to the US a few times for work assignments, and I guess I'd be screwed when someone finds 8GB of pirated music. Allegedly pirated music. Which makes me wonder, how would they figure out whether something is pirated or not?

"It's pirated." That's how.

I don't mean to complain about the down votes (really, not at all).

But I'm curious, how else do you think that conversation is going to go?

Re: ACTA will force border searches of laptops, smartphones for pirated content

#146

Post by yason »

VMG wrote: post #55
yason wrote: post #13

Regardless of ACTA, I have already established a personal policy to: 1) encrypt my partitions (other than root, to make upgrades and reinstalls easier; I use LUKS) 2) copy the essential first megabytes of each LUKS partition to my server or shell account somewhere, encrypted with GPG 3) fill that space with random data 4) travel and go through customs 5) access the GPG encrypted LUKS blocks over internet, decrypt and…

Isn't this overkill? How many border protection agents look into your /etc/fstab and know fdisk , mount and cryptsetup ? How is this supposed to be implemented?

It's underkill, almost. My partitions are already encrypted, all I need is to save + trash + restore the physical LUKS blocks. I don't need to reconfigure my system or do anything differently when I'm not travelling. It's a low-mod hack that I can even explain to the customs people: I'm afraid someone might try to steal my online banking or financial credentials or something, so I chose to disable my personal partitions temporarily instead of being vulnerable to being threatened. I can't be made to move my money to some criminal's account if I can't access mine.

Re: ACTA will force border searches of laptops, smartphones for pirated content

#147

Post by cdr »

koenigdavidmj wrote: post #136
cdr wrote: post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If they suspect there's a hidden volume, that won't help you either.

You can have an arbitrary number of hidden volumes.

If an authority is convinced there's a hidden volume with information they want and that you are not providing access, having arbitrary hidden volumes is not doing you any good legally in the US and likely elsewhere. There are technical and non-technical ways to determine the probable presence of hidden volumes. Hidden volumes do not provide plausible deniability.

Might hidden volumes help you pass a cursory check? Sure. But if someone really wants your data it's not likely going to keep you out of a contempt of court charge.

Re: ACTA will force border searches of laptops, smartphones for pirated content

#148

Post by raphman »

Zancarius wrote: post #123
raphman wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Oh, what a coincidence ;) http://news.ycombinator.org/item?id=3496475

Haha! That is a strange coincidence indeed but not altogether surprising given the subject matter. It's possible someone read your post and submitted it. Just to clarify, raphman did post his link before it was submitted as a story should anyone be wondering once this moves out of the resolution of a day. raphman 7 hours ago [link] Defending Privacy at the U.S. Border... 144 points by llambda 5 hours ago

Thanks for pointing out the limited time resolution.

Re: ACTA will force border searches of laptops, smartphones for pirated content

#149

Post by raphman »

dvdhsu wrote: post #135
Zancarius wrote: post #123

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Haha! That is a strange coincidence indeed but not altogether surprising given the subject matter. It's possible someone read your post and submitted it. Just to clarify, raphman did post his link before it was submitted as a story should anyone be wondering once this moves out of the resolution of a day. raphman 7 hours ago [link] Defending Privacy at the U.S. Border... 144 points by llambda 5 hours ago

Probably not coincidence: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3497285

Thanks for the link. I have added my view over there.

Re: ACTA will force border searches of laptops, smartphones for pirated content

#150

Post by ConstantineXVI »

arethuza wrote: post #86
ConstantineXVI wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To be fair, when they bring out the wrench, you know (at least for a few moments before the impending brain trauma) someone is trying to get your data. If your disk is encrypted, you can be fairly certain that no one will get at your data while your laptop is out of your hands (back room bag searches, etc.)

Unfortunately, if the goal of the exercise is to extract information then they won't hit you on the head and they certainly won't want you going unconscious. :-(

Nothing says the offending party won't knock you around a bit more for fun after they've got what they need.
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