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New Zealand travellers refusing digital search now face $5k Customs fine

radionz.co.nz

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Re: New Zealand travellers refusing digital search now face $5k Customs fine

#111

Post by r1ch »

I don't know how others feel, but if I kept control of the device I would feel much more comfortable with this process. The fact that they can make me unlock the device then take it out of my sight and do unknown things to it means I can no longer trust the device or any of its files (eg private keys, access tokens, etc that may be stored on it).

If they sit down with me and allow me to maintain control of the device while they ask to see recent chats and emails etc I would feel much more comfortable (though don't get me wrong, I still see the whole process as a huge overstep and invasion of privacy).

Re: New Zealand travellers refusing digital search now face $5k Customs fine

#114

Post by flashmob »

davezatch wrote: post #57
plink wrote: post #7

Privacy Commissioner John Edwards had some influence over the drafting of the legislation and said he was "pretty comfortable" with where the law stood... "You know when you come into the country that you can be asked to open your suitcase and that a Customs officer can look at everything in there." Evidently, severe brain damage is no hindrance to securing a commissioner's appointment in New Zealand.

Devil’s advocate: what _is_ wrong with that logic? If we accept that customs can search our persons or luggage as a condition of our entering a given country, what is it about digital materials that makes them off limits?

Let's start that you've been visiting a website called "Hacker News". Explain that to the customs goons when they ask you what is it.

Re: New Zealand travellers refusing digital search now face $5k Customs fine

#115

Post by clubm8 »

ryandrake wrote: post #16
jackhack wrote: post #4

It's troubling to watch one of the most amazing places on earth transform itself into a totalitarian purgatory. Access to physical phone/laptop is only the first step -- mark my words. Big Brother's bureaucrats are never satiated. Next, we will have demands for passwords and unrestricted access to : email, facebook, photo sharing, hacker news posts, social media, etc. I see sudden spike in the market for burner phone…

Factory reset and wipe your device before travel, and restore when you get to your hotel. I’m a privacy nut and while this is a disturbing trend there exist straightforward work arounds. EDIT: I do this all the time and it’s not even remotely difficult or a big deal.

And how do you restore the phone? I assume you travel with a laptop? What happens when they want access to the laptop?

Re: New Zealand travellers refusing digital search now face $5k Customs fine

#116

Post by zymhan »

artursapek wrote: post #99
yholio wrote: post #85

This is an important issue cryptographers and security minded people often overlook: the strongest cryptography is irrelevant if it opens you to such social harassment. What we need is practical cryptography. I have found practical success by booting from an encrypted Linux partition that has absolutely nothing relevant on it, with a weak password I can always enter when requested by big guys with guns. Unbeknown to…

You should write a blog post explaining how to set this up in a little more detail.

https://www.linuxvoice.com/hidden-encrypted-volumes-keep-dat...

https://askubuntu.com/questions/63594/mount-encrypted-volume...

Re: New Zealand travellers refusing digital search now face $5k Customs fine

#117

Post by r1ch »

aikah wrote: post #95
maxxxxx wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How do you do this with an Android device without spending hours restoring it?

> How do you do this with an Android device without spending hours restoring it? There are plenty of backup tools available on the internet, this isn't really a problem with Android. Personally that's what I do each time I travel abroad. Both because I might loose my phone/laptop and because on can never be sure what software/content is legal(or not) in this or that country. Some people got jailed abroad for content/…

The problem is that a full backup on Android requires root, which breaks a lot of security guarantees and isn't even always possible. As far as I'm aware, there is no possible way for me to backup my non-rooted phone, wipe it and restore is as if nothing happened.

Re: New Zealand travellers refusing digital search now face $5k Customs fine

#118

Post by dqpb »

ryandrake wrote: post #16
jackhack wrote: post #4

It's troubling to watch one of the most amazing places on earth transform itself into a totalitarian purgatory. Access to physical phone/laptop is only the first step -- mark my words. Big Brother's bureaucrats are never satiated. Next, we will have demands for passwords and unrestricted access to : email, facebook, photo sharing, hacker news posts, social media, etc. I see sudden spike in the market for burner phone…

Factory reset and wipe your device before travel, and restore when you get to your hotel. I’m a privacy nut and while this is a disturbing trend there exist straightforward work arounds. EDIT: I do this all the time and it’s not even remotely difficult or a big deal.

Treat devices as volatile cache rather than permanent storage.

Re: New Zealand travellers refusing digital search now face $5k Customs fine

#119

Post by lolc »

redleggedfrog wrote: post #52

All these laws should come with a stipulation that, if nothing is actually found on a device that actually helps law enforcement protect the civilians, after say about 5 years the law is rescinded. Really, such laws should have to come up for re-approval at an interval anyway. Anyone who has something to hide will either be smart enough to hide it or not bring the device altogether. Really all they're doing is annoyi…

As if criminals as a class are smarter than the average. Oh they will be caught by this! Example: The amount of people that have felt the urge to show me pictures of their baby marijuana plants is scary. They carry those pics everywhere on their phone! And it's not even like they need those for work.

Don't go around saying how it doesn't work. It makes the life of criminals harder. So it absolutely works. People will be caught by this. The question is: Is it worth it to lose the right to remain silent over it? In my view: Never.

Re: New Zealand travellers refusing digital search now face $5k Customs fine

#120

Post by Tloewald »

jackhack wrote: post #4

It's troubling to watch one of the most amazing places on earth transform itself into a totalitarian purgatory. Access to physical phone/laptop is only the first step -- mark my words. Big Brother's bureaucrats are never satiated. Next, we will have demands for passwords and unrestricted access to : email, facebook, photo sharing, hacker news posts, social media, etc. I see sudden spike in the market for burner phone…

Twenty years ago, Nicholas Negroponte pointed out the irony that when he passed through Singapore customs, they searched his atoms but not his bits.

Is being searched before you get on a plane or enter a customs checkpoint some kind of hideous infringement of your civil liberties? No!

There’s no problem with this in principle. The problem is that it’s silly, and it causes a privacy and security violation while not accomplishing anything.

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