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US Customs block Canadian man after reading his Scruff profile

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Re: US Customs block Canadian man after reading his Scruff profile

#121

Post by tempestn »

bruceb wrote: post #80
system16 wrote: post #70

After many unpleasant dealings with US Customs, I avoid flying to or through the US completely even if it costs me more. The last time I flew from Canada to Singapore through the US, the US Customs officer - on Canadian soil - was hostile, asked me numerous questions about my travel, itinerary, who I was intending to meet, and my personal finances. When I questioned if all this was necessary as I'm not even traveling…

This is part of the problem, not the questions but the attitude. I can understand them asking questions, they have a short time to figure out if the traveler might be "up to no good". That is no reason to ask questions in way that attacks a person. Ask all the questions you want just don't be terrorizing jerk about it. Now one instance can be chalked up to a bad apple but over and over again I have heard stories like…

Apparently they do it intentionally to throw people off, supposedly making it easier to spot if they're hiding something. It doesn't really hold water with me, but that's the rationalization I've heard fwiw.

Re: US Customs block Canadian man after reading his Scruff profile

#122

Post by xbmcuser »

mc32 wrote: post #93
davedx wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, who cares about business, tourism and desirable immigration? None of those things are worth much to the US economy I guess. (Our family was seriously considering a touring camper holiday to the US in a year or two. Now: no way in hell.)

All those things are. The question is, how much do these things affect the above? This has been going on since W Bush on; the Obama and to the present, and as of yet, the impact would seem surmountable, i.e. negated by the majority of people who travel anyway and conduct business anyway.

Your life was not online as much that is changing. Facebook didn't even exist under Bush

Re: US Customs block Canadian man after reading his Scruff profile

#123

Post by kalleboo »

darkhorn wrote: post #83
NamTaf wrote: post #48

Over the last few years I've gone from wanting to visit the US and planning it as one of the next few holidays I'd like to do, to wanting to visit the US but holding off until 'later', to now simply not wanting to visit due to these sort of policies and actions at the border. It's a shame; US citizens are generally lovely people, the US natural environment is beautiful and, hell, the US makes killer craft beers that…

Educated won't visit the USA anymore. Only the people with desperate need for a job will "visit" the USA.

I know plenty of Europeans who are still enchanted enough by "Friends", "Sex and the City", "Breaking Bad", etc who are dying to visit the US. These stories don't have mainstream impact yet.

Re: US Customs block Canadian man after reading his Scruff profile

#124

Post by tempestn »

RileyJames wrote: post #76

For online accounts (ignoring devices that you can physically access) what happens when the account is in your name, but you do not have access to it? Ie: Hugh Jackman has an Instagram account, but it may be run by his PR team. He doesn't hold the password to it, and depending on the contract terms, may have no capacity to order his PR firm to provide it. Non-celebrities could start structuring their online identitie…

> The border guards could still reject your entry tho.

And that's the problem. Any steps you go to to make your data more secure are just going to make it more likely.

Re: US Customs block Canadian man after reading his Scruff profile

#125

Post by KKKKkkkk1 »

Uehreka wrote: post #109
SomeStupidPoint wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you have any basis for your last point? I legitimately don't know many of my passwords, there's no legal obligation to know them, and the law generally cant compel you to do impossible things (eg, tell them something you don't know). They can subpoena my password safe, just like any other file on my computer, and possibly require I unlock it (this is disputed), but I don't see any reason they can demand I reproduc…

The law only exists to the extent that it is enforced. If customs says "give us your passwords or you're not coming through" and you don't have a lawyer handy, then "give us your passwords or you're not coming through" is now the law (until a judge overturns it and possibly charges the officer for breaking another law). If you can call a lawyer and don't mind waiting several hours, you can challenge it. However most…

And also, noncitizens do not have a right to contact a lawyer when they are detained at an airport.

Re: US Customs block Canadian man after reading his Scruff profile

#126

Post by techdragon »

struppi wrote: post #64
chinathrow wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Since when does the US give a damn thing about the UN declaration?

They signed it.

Signatory, Ratified, Implemented. These and other words making up the jargon of diplomacy mean very different things.

For example:

UNCLOS - "Although the United States helped shape the Convention and its subsequent revisions, and though it signed the 1994 Agreement on Implementation, it has not signed the Convention as it objected to Part XI of the Convention." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_parties_to_the_United_...

UN Convention on the Rights of the Child: "The United States government played an active role in the drafting of the Convention and signed it on 16 February 1995, but has not ratified it" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Convention_on_the_Rights_of_th...

Basel Convention: "Haiti and the United States have signed the Convention but not ratified it." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basel_Convention

Re: US Customs block Canadian man after reading his Scruff profile

#128

Post by rasengan0 »

struppi wrote: post #57
kennywinker wrote: post #49

Everyone proposing clever technical solutions. Burner phones and encrypted cloud data etc... you are solving the wrong problem. Instead of engineering a way for the few people who care deeply to avoid this at great effort, engineer a way for this to not be legal. Write your congressperson, donate time and money to political parties, make privacy at the border for ALL (not just citizens) a priority in every election.

This! Also, clever technical solutions won't help when not having any data is seen as suspicious. Like, you cannot tell them "I don't know my passowrds. They are in a password safe, and I do not have access right now". When the law says you have to hand over your passwords, "I don't know them right now" is probably not a valid excuse anyway.

what about the old My-dog-ate-my-sim-card-routine aka ditching your 2fa token ... like i really don';t know because I denied myself access:

"...Then, before you cross the border, make sure you don’t have the SIM card that allows you—or customs officials—to receive that text message, essentially denying yourself the ability to cooperate with agents even if you wanted to. Zdziarski suggests mailing yourself the SIM card, or destroying it and then recovering the accounts with backup codes"

https://www.wired.com/2017/02/guide-getting-past-customs-dig...

Re: US Customs block Canadian man after reading his Scruff profile

#129

Post by kogepathic »

kennywinker wrote: post #49

Everyone proposing clever technical solutions. Burner phones and encrypted cloud data etc... you are solving the wrong problem. Instead of engineering a way for the few people who care deeply to avoid this at great effort, engineer a way for this to not be legal. Write your congressperson, donate time and money to political parties, make privacy at the border for ALL (not just citizens) a priority in every election.

> Everyone proposing clever technical solutions. Burner phones and encrypted cloud data etc... you are solving the wrong problem.

Yes, and this is why I will happily pay airlines more to transfer in another country that is not America (e.g. Canada, Mexico). It sucks because it makes travel more expensive, but US airports are not traveler friendly (they could start by having international transfer zones so you don't have to do security again) and the TSA is a bloody nightmare.

I also avoid travel to the US. There are plenty of interesting travel destinations which are not America you can visit.

For Americans impacted by this, absolutely please write your representatives and ask they tone down this madness. For the rest of the world, if you can avoid traveling to the US, do so. Vote with your wallet and pick somewhere else.

Re: US Customs block Canadian man after reading his Scruff profile

#130

Post by handedness »

te_chris wrote: post #59
NamTaf wrote: post #48

Over the last few years I've gone from wanting to visit the US and planning it as one of the next few holidays I'd like to do, to wanting to visit the US but holding off until 'later', to now simply not wanting to visit due to these sort of policies and actions at the border. It's a shame; US citizens are generally lovely people, the US natural environment is beautiful and, hell, the US makes killer craft beers that…

Go to NZ. Natural wonder of the world and the craft beer is killer. You'll thank me.

With a little effort I'm sure his righteous indignation will have no difficulty finding a reason not to visit NZ, e.g.:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Megaupload_legal_case#Arrests_...

That kind of thinking is dangerous, though, in all forms: equating people with their governments is the beginning of the end, in all directions.

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