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German Girl Turned Away at Border Due to Private Facebook Messages

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Re: German Girl Turned Away at Border Due to Private Facebook Messages

#201

Post by ZoFreX »

mynameishere wrote: post #166
nostromo wrote: post #129

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Heartless, yes, but not outrageous. If a young Mexican woman showed up at the border with papers describing how she intends to work as an illegal nanny, would we react the same way?

There are over 11 million illegals in this country. The typical reaction is to give them extensive welfare, and in certain cases, job and tuition preferences over citizens.

Myth status: BUSTED

Illegal immigrants pay more into social security than they take out. I don't even live in your country and I know this, come on - read a book.

Re: German Girl Turned Away at Border Due to Private Facebook Messages

#202

Post by qb45 »

davidmr wrote: post #183
Houshalter wrote: post #149

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just because the NSA didn't share the data doesn't mean another government agency couldn't also request it from Facebook.

Are you suggesting that the TSA agent interviewing this woman called up some TSA hotline who called up someone at Facebook who just gave it to them, sans warrant, all within the span of a couple hours? Words fail me for an adjective to describe how unlikely that sounds. The far, far, far simpler explanation would that she had a printout of the conversations because it had an address or directions or that she voluntar…

They probably had these papers already prepared. It's not like people get their visas one day before departing to the US.

Re: German Girl Turned Away at Border Due to Private Facebook Messages

#203

Post by bayesianhorse »

The US is spending billions on immigration control, and still have several millions of illegal immigrants. For me this is a sign that restrictions on immigration as they now exist don't work, don't benefit society and should be rethought.

Re: German Girl Turned Away at Border Due to Private Facebook Messages

#204

Post by omegant »

rieter wrote: post #153
benaiah wrote: post #135

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"reading" doesn't necessarily have to be done by a human. As PRISM has shown, the government has capabilities we weren't aware (or at least sure) of. Would it be that ridiculous that they would have algorithmic scrapers running through all the FB data they have available? They say they aren't, but they've already proven we can't trust them farther than we can throw them. Even if they aren't, she's a foreign national,…

Even if there is a bigger reason for wanting her out, there is no reason for them to expose PRISM that way. Immigration officers already have rights to deny anyone without explanation. I just don't find anything about that article logical.

USA Inmigration officers have a good record of not being logical at all.

Re: German Girl Turned Away at Border Due to Private Facebook Messages

#205

Post by simonh »

darklajid wrote: post #193
llamataboot wrote: post #111

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Israel regularly makes people log into email and social media accounts. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/06/04/israel-airport-emai...

Oh, don't get me started.. I still cringe about multiple 'turn on the computer' scenes in Tel Aviv, where 'turn it on' obviously (..) wasn't satisfied by pressing the button, nor by logging in: I had to 'open a file, just any file' (the clueless guys would be impatient by now, being annoyed by my failure to understand this useless requirement). Usually I chose a default windows wallpaper -> Done. Braindead, waste of…

It's fairly easy to rig a laptop display to a micro controller just clever enough to run a login screen simulator, gut out the actual computer electronics and battery, and replace them with contraband or a bomb. Tel Aviv security, which I've been through several times, want to be sure the computer is of the kind it's supposed to be.

Login screen simulators are old tech. Friends of mine used to run them on the terminals at the college I studied at in the 80s to harvest other student's account details. Nowadays they're a lot more sophisticated. If you think you know more about security than the Israelis you're sadly mistaken.

Re: German Girl Turned Away at Border Due to Private Facebook Messages

#206

Post by jlgreco »

simonh wrote: post #205
darklajid wrote: post #193

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Oh, don't get me started.. I still cringe about multiple 'turn on the computer' scenes in Tel Aviv, where 'turn it on' obviously (..) wasn't satisfied by pressing the button, nor by logging in: I had to 'open a file, just any file' (the clueless guys would be impatient by now, being annoyed by my failure to understand this useless requirement). Usually I chose a default windows wallpaper -> Done. Braindead, waste of…

It's fairly easy to rig a laptop display to a micro controller just clever enough to run a login screen simulator, gut out the actual computer electronics and battery, and replace them with contraband or a bomb. Tel Aviv security, which I've been through several times, want to be sure the computer is of the kind it's supposed to be. Login screen simulators are old tech. Friends of mine used to run them on the termina…

I mean, if you were willing to invest that sort of effort, it might even be easier just to put the innards from a modern slim "ultrabook" laptop into the case of a 2000 era thinkpad monster. Throw on a "third party extended battery" for good measure... Actually, don't bother with that. There is plenty of air-space in many older laptops that you could pack with explosives if you don't worry about being able to run the computer for more than several minutes without it overheating...

The entire "turn on the computer" check is idiotic security theater. Either they can tell if there is a bomb in the computer anyway through other means (in which case why are they bothering to do that check?) or they cannot (in which case, how can they possibly hope to catch anything?). My money is obviously on the first.

Re: German Girl Turned Away at Border Due to Private Facebook Messages

#207

Post by tehmaco »

qb45 wrote: post #202
davidmr wrote: post #183

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are you suggesting that the TSA agent interviewing this woman called up some TSA hotline who called up someone at Facebook who just gave it to them, sans warrant, all within the span of a couple hours? Words fail me for an adjective to describe how unlikely that sounds. The far, far, far simpler explanation would that she had a printout of the conversations because it had an address or directions or that she voluntar…

They probably had these papers already prepared. It's not like people get their visas one day before departing to the US.

I think Germany is part of the Visa Waiver Program, so she would have had to apply via ESTA before she flew out.

It wouldn't surprise me now if there was a system in place that used the ESTA information to query the NSA/CIA/etc for anything that might be an issue for immigration control.

If she's been talking about working in the USA and hasn't got a visa (ESTA is only for personal visits, not business IIRC), that's enough for the TSA to refuse her entrance for lying to them.

Re: German Girl Turned Away at Border Due to Private Facebook Messages

#208

Post by loup-vaillant »

jlgreco wrote: post #206
simonh wrote: post #205

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's fairly easy to rig a laptop display to a micro controller just clever enough to run a login screen simulator, gut out the actual computer electronics and battery, and replace them with contraband or a bomb. Tel Aviv security, which I've been through several times, want to be sure the computer is of the kind it's supposed to be. Login screen simulators are old tech. Friends of mine used to run them on the termina…

I mean, if you were willing to invest that sort of effort, it might even be easier just to put the innards from a modern slim "ultrabook" laptop into the case of a 2000 era thinkpad monster. Throw on a "third party extended battery" for good measure... Actually, don't bother with that. There is plenty of air-space in many older laptops that you could pack with explosives if you don't worry about being able to run the…

Depends how smart the "average terrorist" would be. Because you would catch the ones stupid enough to just gut out the laptop, rendering it inoperative (unless of course for that last one blaze of glory… hem).

Re: German Girl Turned Away at Border Due to Private Facebook Messages

#209

Post by ghshephard »

dedward wrote: post #165
wahnfrieden wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How was she even attempting to do this when Canadians are limited to 6 months per year in the US?

Canadians don't need a visa for tourist visits to the US, and passports aren't stamped on exit. It's an incredibly BAD idea in my books, but it's still probably relatively easy for a Canadian to spend a whole lot of time in the US without getting flagged.

Having been here (legally) for 17+ years, I would concur that there is absolutely nothing that would prevent a Canadian from living/working here, other than their integrity and respect for the law (which, admittedly, Canadian have in abundance) - Well, that and a desire to return home for free medicare, more generous welfare system, ... :-)

The only evidence I have submitted to a half dozen employers of my right to work in the United States (because it's all I've ever been given) - is a cardboard I-94, filled out by me, no less, with a faint, blue stamp and date, and a (once again handwritten, this time by ICE agent) "Class: TN, Until: 07 Oct 2015". No Serial Number, no tracking number - just a stamp and visa class.

Re: German Girl Turned Away at Border Due to Private Facebook Messages

#210

Post by PavlovsCat »

icebraining wrote: post #97
laumars wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why don't they seem likely? We already know that the NSA had access to private messages from Facebook and other popular sites.

The unlikely part is not that the US government agencies could get the private messages, it's that they'd jeopardize the whole system by letting regular border officers use it directly (instead of, for example, data-mining and send out no-entry-lists) and show proof of its existence to (foreign!) citizens . I mean, I don't know why Snowden bothered to leak the info, if they're just telling any 18-year-old German girl…

Well, maybe they assume most people will just roll their eyes, disbelieve, ignore and forget about it. Which is a silly assumption of cour-- hey wait.
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