Felony charges for citizen deleting phone data at US Border

Post by [deleted] » Fri, Aug 21, 2026, 10:39 PM UTC

solid_fuel wrote: post #199

Zak wrote: post #189

For exactly the border search scenario, I wish smartphones could be imaged and restored as easily as PCs. Imagine booting the phone from a flash drive, making an encrypted image of the phone on said drive, and writing a fresh OS before reaching the border. There's no deception required to protect sensitive data or avoid the seizure of an expensive phone. Consent to unlocking the phone, refuse to unlock the drive. The…

It may be fun to fantasize about these things some times, but there is no technical solution to tyranny. Laws are not like code, intent matters. Ultimately if the intent is that the government wants to see your private data, hiding it in any way will be charged - it doesn't matter if you jump through hoops to avoid this specific instance.

Post by rootusrootus » Fri, Aug 21, 2026, 10:42 PM UTC

teaearlgraycold wrote: post #399

btbuildem wrote: post #227

The naivete of some of the comments here is astounding. It doesn't matter whether you're right, it doesn't matter whether it's the law, it's irrelevant that you have rights, etc. Those things are of the past now, for the US. I think it would be easier to understand the playing field and choose your actions accordingly, if you accept the US has entered its East Germany / late 20th century Soviet era -- except of cours…

We have unprecedented corruption in the White House but much of the other stuff is not new territory. It’s bad and a regression I hate to see. But we can always improve when the people demand better. The people always have the power, even if they don’t realize it. For the most part nothing has changed.

Post by detourdog » Fri, Aug 21, 2026, 10:43 PM UTC

TimTheTinker wrote: post #354

dijit wrote: post #270

Earlier quoted context omitted.

its only with the benefit of hindsight (and being on the winning side- thus the propaganda was never dispelled) that we consider the stasi and so on the way we do. If it walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck.. might just be a duck. I don’t believe those living “normal lives” in East Germany or the Soviet era considered the police to be evil and invasive the way we do today.

> I don’t believe those living “normal lives” in East Germany or the Soviet era considered the police to be evil and invasive the way we do today. "normal life" under the Stasi was constant political terror and suppression. The death counts are low because they thought death too little of a penalty for opposing them - they used psychological warfare ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zersetzung ) and torture instead. Th…

Post by rootusrootus » Fri, Aug 21, 2026, 10:44 PM UTC

phs318u wrote: post #407

ApolloFortyNine wrote: post #285

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This has been legal since long before Trump, if you don't like it there's laws in motion to ban it you can support, but entering across a border you've been allowed to be searched without a warrant for decades at least. And if you're being searched and then you destroy what they're trying to search... Here you are.

From the article: “ he has been ensnared by National Security Presidential Memorandum-7, or NSPM-7, a sweeping directive issued by President Trump last September that expanded the definition of domestic terrorism to include crimes like getting in the way of immigration enforcement. His prosecution is one of the earliest known instances of the federal authorities charging a person with destroying evidence using a prog…

Post by [deleted] » Fri, Aug 21, 2026, 10:45 PM UTC

nikanj wrote: post #439

siren2026 wrote: post #435

Earlier quoted context omitted.

edit: deleted because political flamewar

Say whatever you want, just don't say it on social media or border control might not let you enter the country the next time