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Canadian journalist's detention at US border raises press freedom alarms

nytimes.com

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Re: Canadian journalist's detention at US border raises press freedom alarms

#221

Post by Asooka »

shostack wrote: post #199
ue_ wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I read a story on /r/hentai (yes, bear with me) who said that he was stopped at the Canadian border and they searched his laptop. In his browser image cache they found drawings of fictional characters who appeared to be under the age of 18 engaged in sexual acts. They detained him for a day (or two, I can't remember) and confiscated his laptop permanently. Laws like this are silly, horrible, and have no place in a de…

What recourse does one have when a device is seized? These things aren't cheap and I'd feel a bit better knowing that my sole option wasn't "save up for a new one."

At this point? Save up for a new one, pay a hundred times its cost to a lawyer to maybe have it back, or start a revolution and overthrow the government.

Re: Canadian journalist's detention at US border raises press freedom alarms

#222

Post by xkiwi »

curried_haskell wrote: post #188
chinathrow wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Some risk averse people are following one rule: Do not carry any electronics at any border crossing. It's a hostile territory.

This is what I don't get. Would you carry a briefcase over the border filled with confidential documents, photos, love letters, and a porno magazine? Would you think that customs has no right to open it and ask you for the combination of the briefcase is locked? How is a cell phone any different? Asking for passwords to Facebook accounts or other information that isn't on your phone, now that's another story. When cr…

It is different: Cellphone, especially smartphone nowadays, has extended reach.

When your phone is taken away after they forced you enter SU level password, you have no control of it, they do.

Whoever took it inside the room, they can:

>Browser your email, check who you contacted since you have you email box: Why you bought this on amazon? Why you bought that from Ebay? For what reason you purchase two pressure cookers from and nails from Walmart at the same time?

>Check your contacts: Who is Mr.X? When was the last time you talk to Mr. Y? What was in the conversation?

>Check what you have posted on facebook/Twitter. You supported Aaron Swartz? You are in the protest called The Day we Fight Back? What was the protest about? Who you are with?

>You may have home security Cam APP installed: Who sitting in the sofa? How many rooms do you have? Is this your wife? What is her social security number? What is her first name? On the day of Feb 21, 2013, who are the two male visited your home? What's their name and what's the purpose of the visit? How long they stayed in your house? What car they are diving? What is the plate number?

>Copy all your photos for further investation.

>Install Spyware, Copy your RSA key stored in your phone.

Re: Canadian journalist's detention at US border raises press freedom alarms

#223

Post by lancewiggs »

wallace_f wrote: post #197
ue_ wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I read a story on /r/hentai (yes, bear with me) who said that he was stopped at the Canadian border and they searched his laptop. In his browser image cache they found drawings of fictional characters who appeared to be under the age of 18 engaged in sexual acts. They detained him for a day (or two, I can't remember) and confiscated his laptop permanently. Laws like this are silly, horrible, and have no place in a de…

> Laws like this are silly, horrible, and have no place in a democracy. Even disgusting speech ought to be defended. I agree. Furthermore, to the best of my knowledge I would guess these cases would not hold up to the scrutiny of the supreme court, if they were ever brought there. As a non legal expert, my reading has been that the Supreme Court usually has, at least in the past, set a very high bar in ruling against…

To be clear: Auckland has a _legal_ prostitution industry, as does the rest of NZ. The censorship board can indeed ban certain media, but it's never really an issue here.

Re: Canadian journalist's detention at US border raises press freedom alarms

#224

Post by wheelerwj »

adomanico wrote: post #211
wheelerwj wrote: post #196

Earlier quoted context omitted.

yea, i tried that but got denied. :/

Just curious, what reason did they give for your denial?

they don't. they tell you to file a bunch of FOIA requests on yourself and then appeal if feel like you'd win.

pretty ambiguous.

Re: Canadian journalist's detention at US border raises press freedom alarms

#225

Post by wheelerwj »

spraak wrote: post #209
wheelerwj wrote: post #195

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't. by this point I've got a relatively small personal digital footprint. Everything I need I can download again, or log back into. working out 2fa was a blessing and a curse. decoupling it from sms has been great but I do rely on a centralized service to store a theoretically encrypted backup. I'm lucky to have a pretty decent memory, so I everything else I just remember. I guess the part that is the most frust…

Thanks for sharing in detail. What is the service you use for backup?

theres a few different ones. i think authy, duo, and last pass all provide a similar service.

Re: Canadian journalist's detention at US border raises press freedom alarms

#226

Post by uiuiuop »

empressplay wrote: post #109
exolymph wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I asked what would happen if I didn't turn the password over and just went back home to the US, they told me they'd seize the device and put me in prison until they break into it. I guess it depends on how much you care about your personal info or how sensitive your data is, but I wouldn't budge based on this. I'd say, "Okay, I want to talk to the American embassy," then wait it out. Edit: To be clear, this would b…

You're under the mistaken impression that when you enter a border crossing you can turn around and go home without the permission of the country you're attempting to enter. This is not true. You've already entered the country, and so the border staff (US, Canadian, whoever) can indeed detain you, throw you into immigration detention, take all your stuff, really whatever they want. You don't have any rights. You could…

What if I make a break for the US border? Will they bring me back to the Canadians?

Re: Canadian journalist's detention at US border raises press freedom alarms

#227

Post by [deleted] »

tempestn wrote: post #155
marme wrote: post #118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

better yet is to buy a cheap unlocked phone from walmart and just take your sim out and put it in the cheap phone and leave your real phone at home.

Even so, the main thing I wouldn't want someone snooping in is my email, and as long as that's online it seems just as feasible that I would be forced to log into that as into my phone. Also, I tend to use my phone a lot when I'm traveling, so I'd like to have it!

[deleted]

Re: Canadian journalist's detention at US border raises press freedom alarms

#228

Post by Broken_Hippo »

jb1991 wrote: post #48
jliptzin wrote: post #21

Don't be fooled, Canadian border patrol proudly engages in this as well. I was recently driving across the border to Montreal on vacation when Canadian border agents, in addition to searching my car and personal belongings, demanded to see my cell phone and turn over the password. I simply asked why, since I didn't think I was doing anything suspicious, at which point the agent angrily responded "because I can and no…

Some friends of mine were turned back at the border because they didn't make advance reservations for a hotel and therefore prove their trip really was legit.

My spouse always had to provide my address to customs when he flew in to see me. Without that and a return trip booked, he'd be denied entry. This isn't only the US, however.

When I moved to Norway from the US, I had to have a return flight booked to get entry into the country the first time, otherwise there is a chance of being denied entry, which can really ruin your chances for immigration.

Re: Canadian journalist's detention at US border raises press freedom alarms

#229

Post by digi_owl »

nostromo wrote: post #3

I'm so embarrassed how America treats people entering the U.S. It's the first experience foreigners have in our country, and we make it one of the worst experiences in the developed world. Industries that benefit from tourism should lobby the Federal Government to improve the travel experience to, from, and within the US. I personally would fly at least a few more times a year if the TSA/CBP process treated people wi…

Leaving is apparently no better...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Watts_(author)

Re: Canadian journalist's detention at US border raises press freedom alarms

#230

Post by 91bananas »

mrlyc wrote: post #219
wheelerwj wrote: post #193

Earlier quoted context omitted.

yea, it's a nice attempt to justify your actions, but when drug smuggling and gun running is conducted by federal agencies and the TSA fails 95% of bomb detection tests, you have to wonder what the actual goal is.

I see the actual goal as showing the populace who is in charge as well as getting them used to searches and interrogation. Combined with the newly militarized police, it decreases the probability of another revolution.

Tin foil hat and all, I actually agree
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