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Everything you do is being recorded

theatlantic.com

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Re: Everything you do is being recorded

#271

Post by inigyou »

lukan wrote: post #260
Alive-in-2025 wrote: post #223

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Since the courts decided you have to use your fingerprint to unlock your phone (because they decided that's not giving up your password and they can't compel you to give up your password), what if you use your fingerprint to wipe your phone? But you don't tell anyone ahead of time when they force you to use it. I'm sure you'd be arrested at the least. I can't be the only person who has thought of this.

Well, guess what happens: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/28/us/duress-password-phone-...

That happened because he chose to give the duress PIN. Cops are allowed to just grab your finger and scan it against your protest. You can say "don't do that, it'll wipe my phone" and they'll do it anyway and it'll wipe your phone, and now it certainly isn't your fault.

Re: Everything you do is being recorded

#272

Post by inigyou »

BoppreH wrote: post #257
Alive-in-2025 wrote: post #223

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Since the courts decided you have to use your fingerprint to unlock your phone (because they decided that's not giving up your password and they can't compel you to give up your password), what if you use your fingerprint to wipe your phone? But you don't tell anyone ahead of time when they force you to use it. I'm sure you'd be arrested at the least. I can't be the only person who has thought of this.

IANAL, but I would bet that's still destruction of evidence. Judges are human, for better or worse, and can see the intention behind cute tricks like this. It might work if your fingerprint was used while you were unconscious, but any solution that starts with "setup a trigger that wipes a device" is already on shaky grounds.

AFAIK it's legal to set up a trigger that wipes a device. It isn't legal to choose to wipe your device after you know the government wants the data. Tricking the government into wiping it is still allowed, especially if you tell them not to do that.

Re: Everything you do is being recorded

#273

Post by inigyou »

amelius wrote: post #250
Alive-in-2025 wrote: post #223

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Since the courts decided you have to use your fingerprint to unlock your phone (because they decided that's not giving up your password and they can't compel you to give up your password), what if you use your fingerprint to wipe your phone? But you don't tell anyone ahead of time when they force you to use it. I'm sure you'd be arrested at the least. I can't be the only person who has thought of this.

Best approach is to shadow-ban the user when they do a secret gesture before logging in. No wiping necessary. Easiest implementation is to just log them into a shadow account.

GrapheneOS rejected the shadow account idea because it would be very obvious to everyone that it was a shadow account.

Re: Everything you do is being recorded

#275

Post by amelius »

inigyou wrote: post #273
amelius wrote: post #250

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Best approach is to shadow-ban the user when they do a secret gesture before logging in. No wiping necessary. Easiest implementation is to just log them into a shadow account.

GrapheneOS rejected the shadow account idea because it would be very obvious to everyone that it was a shadow account.

But it wouldn't be illegal, I suppose. That's what counts, in the end.

Re: Everything you do is being recorded

#276

Post by slipperybeluga »

jahnu wrote: post #217
matheusmoreira wrote: post #194

> Until recently, only spies and criminals had to worry this obsessively about their private statements being picked up by electronic equipment. > But soon, the average person might need to deploy surveillance countermeasures. Already there. If you want privacy and anonymity online, you're looking at literal terrorist cell tier tradecraft. That means pulling up documents written by people from the "counterterrorism c…

“Chief, we got a citizen here with a suspiciously small online footprint. Investigate further?”

I've applied to jobs recently that require listing LinkedIn profile. Don't see how that is legal. I always put something like idonthavesocialmedia.com but I imagine it's a strike against me according to see brainless HR drone who sees it as problematic

Re: Everything you do is being recorded

#277

Post by BoppreH »

inigyou wrote: post #272
BoppreH wrote: post #257

Earlier quoted context omitted.

IANAL, but I would bet that's still destruction of evidence. Judges are human, for better or worse, and can see the intention behind cute tricks like this. It might work if your fingerprint was used while you were unconscious, but any solution that starts with "setup a trigger that wipes a device" is already on shaky grounds.

AFAIK it's legal to set up a trigger that wipes a device. It isn't legal to choose to wipe your device after you know the government wants the data. Tricking the government into wiping it is still allowed, especially if you tell them not to do that.

That matches my understanding too. Unfortunately it sounds like the poster was suggesting to wipe the device after the government requests access, and was probably not planning on telling the officers about the trigger.

Re: Everything you do is being recorded

#278

Post by pylua »

mawadev wrote: post #239

I feel like sooner or later we all hollow out a little more. All this data is either used to prevent crime or to influence your thoughts and what you do in the world. Outsourcing your thinking to something else leads to digital dementia. What is the point of all of this technology?

It gets it wrong a lot and is automated. How would you feel about being falsely accused or misunderstood ?

Also, it lays the groundwork to absolutely crush dissent in the future .

Re: Everything you do is being recorded

#280

Post by inigyou »

BoppreH wrote: post #277
inigyou wrote: post #272

Earlier quoted context omitted.

AFAIK it's legal to set up a trigger that wipes a device. It isn't legal to choose to wipe your device after you know the government wants the data. Tricking the government into wiping it is still allowed, especially if you tell them not to do that.

That matches my understanding too. Unfortunately it sounds like the poster was suggesting to wipe the device after the government requests access, and was probably not planning on telling the officers about the trigger.

With fingerprint unlock it's not your choice. That's what makes it clever. The cop can grab your finger and hold it to the scanner while you tell him not to do that.
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