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Questions for TSA after reports of laptop and phone searches on domestic flights

theguardian.com

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Re: Questions for TSA after reports of laptop and phone searches on domestic flights

#131

Post by oldandtired »

mcherm wrote: post #93
onetimemanytime wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>> It's possible the TSA will claim that taking a device for some amount of time and giving it back doesn't qualify as a (4th amendment) search. Not likely to work: "We just want to search your house for 30 minutes" or "you can have your document back after we photocopy it, so no warrant needed." The idea is that they cannot do certain things without a warrant.

I think the fear is that the TSA will deny having searched the phone and the complaintant will have not way of proving that they did.

Having the system have an ability to log all accesses after switching on get past this problem. As the logs will be proof the system was searched while not in your hands.

Re: Questions for TSA after reports of laptop and phone searches on domestic flights

#132

Post by sandworm101 »

testvox wrote: post #77
sandworm101 wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They dont use tools. For inspection of random phones from non-suspects they just poke around by hand. Only when they find something do they employ actual tools.

Why would they do this rather than simply image the device? How do you know what their protocol is?

Because opening a phone and looking at the first few texts/emails is faster than imaging. One cannot take a phone and properly image it in the 5-10 minutes they spend with the average phone.

Re: Questions for TSA after reports of laptop and phone searches on domestic flights

#133

Post by oldandtired »

lovich wrote: post #120
justinjlynn wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I should clarify: If them looking through my data is not optional and I can't refuse, and I'm not at a border crossing (which is still bullshit imo, but well trodden precedent), they'd better have goddamn signed warrant.

Isn't the argument that every international airport constitutes a border, and every mile of beach, and every mile of an actual border? That zone covers the majority of the population of the US constantly.

Don't you mean any area within 100 miles of the borders? That means some states are completely within this region and are all subject to border searches.

Re: Questions for TSA after reports of laptop and phone searches on domestic flights

#134

Post by tedunangst »

reaperducer wrote: post #78
throwaway613834 wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It is well documented that there is no cell phone that cannot be unlocked. Citation needed?

For iPhones: https://www.forbes.com/sites/thomasbrewster/2018/02/26/gover... For every other phone, Google is your friend.

So that's what's happening? The TSA takes your phone, teleports it to cellebrite who unlock and clone it in ten minutes, then they teleport it back?

Re: Questions for TSA after reports of laptop and phone searches on domestic flights

#136

Post by graeme »

leggomylibro wrote: post #79
graeme wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is terribly dangerous advice for a border crossing.

On the other hand, a big part of nonviolent resistance as preached by figures like Gandhi and MLK Jr. is acknowledging that your actions may get you detained by a civil power. You'd be relying on the arbitrary, capricious, and in your view reprehensible nature of the charges to sway public opinion and stoke outrage. It's not good advice if you are an individual who just wants to avoid the inside of a prison cell, and…

That's true, and a good point. And if someone tried to organize a movement to resist capricious border treatment, I think that would be laudable.

I'm less sure about an individual reading that advice and swearing at a border guard. Both Ghandi and MLK used mass resistance to achieve their ends.

Re: Questions for TSA after reports of laptop and phone searches on domestic flights

#137

Post by mikeash »

oldandtired wrote: post #124
mikeash wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I trust the crypto used by my devices. Searching electronics for explosives isn’t security theater. That’s a real threat vector and an effective counter to that threat.

It is theatre if it is applied randomly. It is not if all devices are tested equally. The same goes for testing of people. Unless all are tested, random checks are just about useless, since there will be a pattern to the selection of people for "random" testing.

If the screening is being rendered ineffective by bad profiling, then it’s the profiling that’s theater, not the screening being profiled for.

Re: Questions for TSA after reports of laptop and phone searches on domestic flights

#138

Post by benmmurphy »

lisper wrote: post #30
ep103 wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

hidden partitions, and/or storing all your important data off-device are the two pieces of advice that get suggested the most.

I would strongly recommend the latter. Hidden partitions are trivial to find. I recommend one of these: https://www.amazon.com/MyDigitalSSD-480GB-SuperSpeed-Portabl... Keep it encrypted and in your pocket.

The bigger problem with hidden partitions is the TSA agent asks you if there is a hidden partition and then if they are able to find out they you have lied you have committed a crime.

Re: Questions for TSA after reports of laptop and phone searches on domestic flights

#139

Post by jklinger410 »

ianferrel wrote: post #127
jklinger410 wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes you can pre-arrange a ride. Hitch-hiking is illegal in some states. You can pay for a taxi, buy a train or plane ticket. The latter provided you are not on any lists and don't mind your things being x-rayed and/or searched. Really paying for rides in a car is the last great bastion of free movement (provided you don't get randomly stopped and searched in a checkpoint of some kind) in the U.S. Although, most of th…

> Hitch-hiking is mostly illegal in most states No it isn't. There are only a few states where it's illegal.

You are correct. While it is outright illegal in 6 states and has many different specifications per state, it is not mostly illegal.

I have amended my original comment to reflect this after doing some research.

Re: Questions for TSA after reports of laptop and phone searches on domestic flights

#140

Post by justinjlynn »

oldandtired wrote: post #133
lovich wrote: post #120

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Isn't the argument that every international airport constitutes a border, and every mile of beach, and every mile of an actual border? That zone covers the majority of the population of the US constantly.

Don't you mean any area within 100 miles of the borders? That means some states are completely within this region and are all subject to border searches.

I would love to see the government attempt to defend such a stance in front of the supreme court. I have a sneaking suspicion there'd be a major judicial shitfit on that.

Chief Justice would probably be all: "LOL, you did wut? ಠ_ಠ"

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