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Australians who won't unlock their phones could face ten years in jail

nakedsecurity.sophos.com

31–40 of 167 posts

Re: Australians who won't unlock their phones could face ten years in jail

#31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

US: Life sentence. If a judge orders you to unlock your laptop/phone and you don't -- it could be a life sentence. IMHO, they go around the constitution with "Contempt of court". https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2017/03/man-jailed-indef...

You're dramatically over-simplifying by using one example to claim it's law. That is not the US law, that's one individual instance. In fact it's unsettled legal territory. The Supreme Court has yet to settle it, and they will very likely be the final word.

I re-read my comment, I didn't say "That is the US law".

Re: Australians who won't unlock their phones could face ten years in jail

#32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Arguing that you don't care about the right to privacy because you have nothing to hie is no different than saying you don't care about free speech because you have nothing to say." -E. Snowden

I disagree with that statement because they have fundamentally different purposes. Free speech affects my ability to improve society. Right to privacy affects my ability to cover my own ass.

Sure, but his point was that you don't give up rights to the government simply because you have no use for them. Other people do. If you don't defend them, they get eroded and society regresses. History shows us this.

Re: Australians who won't unlock their phones could face ten years in jail

#33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Arguing that you don't care about the right to privacy because you have nothing to hie is no different than saying you don't care about free speech because you have nothing to say." -E. Snowden

I disagree with that statement because they have fundamentally different purposes. Free speech affects my ability to improve society. Right to privacy affects my ability to cover my own ass.

Free speech in a country that goes authoritarian is very harmful for your career. People in power have connections, they can make it hard for you to make a living without even breaking the law, just asking the right people for a favor. Anonymity is one of the things that make people more likely to say what's need to be said.

Without protection of privacy - very few people will exercise their free speech when things get hard.

Re: Australians who won't unlock their phones could face ten years in jail

#34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Arguing that you don't care about the right to privacy because you have nothing to hie is no different than saying you don't care about free speech because you have nothing to say." -E. Snowden

I disagree with that statement because they have fundamentally different purposes. Free speech affects my ability to improve society. Right to privacy affects my ability to cover my own ass.

It's still about the basic human dignity, you loose it once you don't have free speech or the right to privacy. Would you feel dignified if you were forced to go around with a huge hole in your pants without the ability to "cover your ass"?

Re: Australians who won't unlock their phones could face ten years in jail

#35
post #30
post #3

Seems like the only logical solution is to carry a hammer to destroy your phone if necessary. If the heat hasn't told you they want your phone, there's nothing legally stopping you from destroying your own property if you see them coming...

On some level this is why I'm skeptical of all security efforts in the electronic space. Because if the government or anyone sufficiently powerful is actually after me, the first thing I'm going to do is throw my phone down the garbage disposal and blindly dd all my hard drives with zeros.

Unfortunately this plan relies on you knowing that they are after you. In the case of a raid when you're not home, you won't have access to the hard drives to erase them.

Re: Australians who won't unlock their phones could face ten years in jail

#36
post #9

I think it's fine. If you did nothing wrong then you have nothing to lose by unlocking your phone. So if you don't unlock your phone, it's an admission of guilt. People are way too paranoid. Nobody cares about what you do with your phone. Sometimes I feel like the upper classes of society (especially hypocrites who have money and a reputation to protect) are projecting their fears on all other classes. Then like fool…

So if you don't unlock your phone, it's an admission of guilt.

I understand the evidence indicates that some people do choose not to unlock their phones on demand by police, even when they are innocent. You can interpret that as an admission of guilt if you like; this puts you in the same moral boat as police who write up a confession for someone and then fake their signature, because they just know the guy is guilty.

You can say what you think all you like, but the evidence is against you.

Re: Australians who won't unlock their phones could face ten years in jail

#38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You're dramatically over-simplifying by using one example to claim it's law. That is not the US law, that's one individual instance. In fact it's unsettled legal territory. The Supreme Court has yet to settle it, and they will very likely be the final word.

I re-read my comment, I didn't say "That is the US law".

Re-read the parent as well, because it also doesn't claim you did.

You absurdly oversimplified the situation, which is the criticism, please address that.

Re: Australians who won't unlock their phones could face ten years in jail

#39
post #3

Seems like the only logical solution is to carry a hammer to destroy your phone if necessary. If the heat hasn't told you they want your phone, there's nothing legally stopping you from destroying your own property if you see them coming...

I usually have my foot with me. Foot + phone + ground = destroyed phone But, with enough resources they could still read the memory in the phone even if it was smashed.

Dump it in a bottle of Gatorade or coconut water.

Re: Australians who won't unlock their phones could face ten years in jail

#40
post #3

Seems like the only logical solution is to carry a hammer to destroy your phone if necessary. If the heat hasn't told you they want your phone, there's nothing legally stopping you from destroying your own property if you see them coming...

I usually have my foot with me. Foot + phone + ground = destroyed phone But, with enough resources they could still read the memory in the phone even if it was smashed.

If the ground is solid and the police let you destroy evidence while they're detaining you.
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