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US citizen charged after GrapheneOS phone wipes during airport search

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Re: US citizen charged after GrapheneOS phone wipes during airport search

#471
post #233

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, that's my position. If you're paranoid enough to be using GrapheneOS, why would you take it to an airport in the US of all places? I bought a second hand iPhone for overseas trips, which my daughter promptly stole because she wanted an iPhone, but then i got her old android phone, which was LineageOS-compatible, so that became my travel phone.

How do you manage data between your primary and travel-phone? I _think_ you would need a fresh iCloud account (thus losing access to purchased apps and subscriptions). You also need to manually create fresh social media accounts, copy over contacts, etc.? Any advice on how to automate this process or is this just a 2-4 hours exercise you do before your trip?

You mostly don't sync any such data. Prepare some file (or a few files, including an .ics for itinerary or what-not) with information about your trip, a few days in advance, and copy the file(s) to the phone. That's it.

And if you use iCloud or any of that stuff - you've already lost; Apple, and the US government already have access to your files and communications before you ever came to the airport. Sure, maybe it's not the specific border guards who have the access, but still.

Re: US citizen charged after GrapheneOS phone wipes during airport search

#472

I’ve seen a lot of people on the internet over the years say things like “the government can’t make x illegal, it’s just y.” For example, the government can’t make wiping your phone at the border illegal, it’s just punching four numbers into your phone, just like a pin, only a different four numbers, which could just have well been your pin. U.S. law though is highly non-autistic and what you were trying to do is jus…

Please elaborate on how US law isn't "autistic".

Re: US citizen charged after GrapheneOS phone wipes during airport search

#473
post #349

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is more like bringing the pepper across and then quickly swallowing it when they ask you to look at it.

which also would be fine?

Hit and miss, depending on the security guy. Some had me pour it out.

Re: US citizen charged after GrapheneOS phone wipes during airport search

#474

For non-graphene users (eg. Boring iPhone people like me). So there’s a feature called Duress PIN which as explained through some comments means you put a different pin which intentionally wipes the phone. It’s not auto wipe or wipe after several failed attempts but intentional wipe of device. (Worth explanation as the current title nor the article doesn't easily explain this was made by the US citizen providing the…

PIN to wipe seems suspicious. How about a PIN where it login to a patriotic profile and phone looks like normal android.

[deleted]

Re: US citizen charged after GrapheneOS phone wipes during airport search

#475

For non-graphene users (eg. Boring iPhone people like me). So there’s a feature called Duress PIN which as explained through some comments means you put a different pin which intentionally wipes the phone. It’s not auto wipe or wipe after several failed attempts but intentional wipe of device. (Worth explanation as the current title nor the article doesn't easily explain this was made by the US citizen providing the…

PIN to wipe seems suspicious. How about a PIN where it login to a patriotic profile and phone looks like normal android.

And wipes the main partition in the background at the same time

Also too patriotic is sus. Better to keep some minor offenses (that give you a fine or a week of jail at most) on that partition so they will think that this is the thing that made you so nervous during the search

Re: US citizen charged after GrapheneOS phone wipes during airport search

#476

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Federal prosecutor success rate is over > 90%. This is a misunderstood statistic. Federal prosecutors won't even pursue cases unless they think there's a high chance of success. They don't operate like two private parties suing each other to force the court to decide something. If the evidence is there or the charges aren't fully formed, they don't waste resources on it. This leads to a contradictory set of complai…

> Federal prosecutors won't even pursue cases unless they think there's a high chance of success. Given the incarceration rates compared to average western standards, that's a moot point. Even if they selectively pursue, they do pursue a hell of a lot, and they do get a hell of a lot of convictions - relatively. Factor in the severity of the convictions, also much worse compared to average western standards even for…

> Given the incarceration rates...

I don't think you make anything moot by compounding more regional stats. Some countries have more crime, they underinvest in rehabilitation, addiction treatment, and social diversion programmes. Shock horror: jobless, homeless addicts commit crimes. The US also has a land border with long land borders.

That is all to say, comparing apples and margaritas doesn't do what you think it does.

Re: US citizen charged after GrapheneOS phone wipes during airport search

#477

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You’re way off about when it’s illegal to start destroying your property that the police want to seize during an investigation.

"Investigation" is a pretty generous way to label "some thugs working for an authoritarian state want to look for incriminating stuff - including criticism or mockery of them or their leader - on your communications device". Whatever the American legal system may say, a couple of thugs with no warrant conducting searches and seizures of data is a blatant violation of the Constitution's intent. This is the sort of beh…

I would also like the fourth amendment to apply at the border.

Have you read United States v. Flores-Montano? The border search exception (which I disagree with) is pretty old. Can you find an era in which Americans in general found it objectionable or were united in rejecting its application to data?

Re: US citizen charged after GrapheneOS phone wipes during airport search

#478
post #342

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Fascinating. It seems the feature is called "Second Space" https://www.mi.com/global/support/faq/details/KA-492586/

Profiles are a standard Android feature, nothing special to Xiaomi. GrapheneOS even extends and improves them in a lot of ways. It's just not possible to hide them in a good way that would faze knowledgeable people or software.

not accessible just by typing another pin on stock Android though.

Re: US citizen charged after GrapheneOS phone wipes during airport search

#479
post #168

Every day I thank the lord that I left the US for good and never went back

I would be very interested in how you did this / where you ended up. Feels like an impossible task every time I consider it.

There’s been a large uptick in immigration from the US to Ireland; almost ten thousand last year. In general, people would do this via employment; software engineers and similar would generally qualify for a critical skills permit. For critical skills, after two years on a stamp 1 visa (tied to a specific employment) you can move to a stamp 4 (not tied to specific employment). After five years working in the country you can apply for citizenship.

Re: US citizen charged after GrapheneOS phone wipes during airport search

#480

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> but then says he can't have me disrespecting and being a smart-ass to his cops Maybe it's just me, but I am of the exact opposite opinion. Cops have enormous power, and any misuse of it should be pushed back on hard. Cops that misuse their power should not be respected. An informed citizenry is a wonderful asset in making that power imbalance less of a problem.

There's a difference between polite pushback and being straight up disrespectful. It shouldn't matter as the cops shouldn't abuse their power and shouldn't attack people, but we live in the real world. The judge probably didn't want to have to deal with the potential future mess if op didn't learn their lesson and got beat up by a cop.

"Straight up disrespectful" can be made up to mean anything, but in general should refer to things that shouldn't bother police officers doing their job. They can get pissed off about it in their own time.
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