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Ex-Mozilla CTO: I was grilled for three hours at US airport by border cops

theregister.co.uk

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Re: Ex-Mozilla CTO: I was grilled for three hours at US airport by border cops

#51

Post by mikeash »

chrisseaton wrote: post #41
mikeash wrote: post #14

Quick reminder: US citizens have an absolute right to reenter the country. Customs can temporarily detain you, but they cannot refuse entry. Any threat, whether implied or stated, that they will hold you until you unlock your device is not real. They can hold your stuff indefinitely, so be prepared to lose it if you go this route, but never unlock your device based on the idea that it’s the only way to go free. Non-c…

> US citizens have an absolute right to reenter the country Going to a prison somewhere in the US is 'reentry' I suppose.

Yes, if they actually find probable cause to charge you with a crime, then they’ll let you enter but arrest you and put you in jail. Refusing to unlock your devices does not qualify, though.

Re: Ex-Mozilla CTO: I was grilled for three hours at US airport by border cops

#53

Post by mgkimsal »

If you're being investigated, and they have emails sent to a domain you own (for example), then search your device, but you've given them a burner device with no reference to that email account, would that be considered 'hiding' evidence?

Re: Ex-Mozilla CTO: I was grilled for three hours at US airport by border cops

#54

Post by squarefoot »

halgir wrote: post #11
chuckgreenman wrote: post #2

I'm hoping that manufactures will start building a plausible deniability user profile you can log into while leaving your actual profile encrypted, appearing to be slack space. This kind of thuggery seems to be getting more common.

This seems like a good idea, but it may land you in even more trouble. If it can be shown that you intentionally misled officers about content on your device, not merely denied questioning, you risk an obstruction of justice charge.

How about enforcing this by contract to shift the responsibility towards the employer, which presumably has more teeth to defend itself from abuses? Say a clause in every IT worker contract stating that when a LEO asks to unlock any device, a predefined user account must be used to log in. In the OP case, I'd hardly believe they'd send SWAT teams to Cupertino to raid Apple offices.

Re: Ex-Mozilla CTO: I was grilled for three hours at US airport by border cops

#55

Post by milomilo86 »

chuckgreenman wrote: post #2

I'm hoping that manufactures will start building a plausible deniability user profile you can log into while leaving your actual profile encrypted, appearing to be slack space. This kind of thuggery seems to be getting more common.

Couldn't you just login to the guess account on a mac? I'm assuming guess accounts cant read any data from the other existing accounts

Re: Ex-Mozilla CTO: I was grilled for three hours at US airport by border cops

#56

Post by Zak »

chrisseaton wrote: post #41
mikeash wrote: post #14

Quick reminder: US citizens have an absolute right to reenter the country. Customs can temporarily detain you, but they cannot refuse entry. Any threat, whether implied or stated, that they will hold you until you unlock your device is not real. They can hold your stuff indefinitely, so be prepared to lose it if you go this route, but never unlock your device based on the idea that it’s the only way to go free. Non-c…

> US citizens have an absolute right to reenter the country Going to a prison somewhere in the US is 'reentry' I suppose.

Yes, but the rule of law in the US is mostly intact, so refusing to provide information or actively facilitate a search will not have that result. Lying to the officer can.

Re: Ex-Mozilla CTO: I was grilled for three hours at US airport by border cops

#57

Post by thebooktocome »

musha68k wrote: post #44
mikeash wrote: post #14

Quick reminder: US citizens have an absolute right to reenter the country. Customs can temporarily detain you, but they cannot refuse entry. Any threat, whether implied or stated, that they will hold you until you unlock your device is not real. They can hold your stuff indefinitely, so be prepared to lose it if you go this route, but never unlock your device based on the idea that it’s the only way to go free. Non-c…

Quick reminder: Non US citizens only go to conferences outside the US. There is no excuse we should put up with this. Canada and EU are much better locations for this reason alone.

Also, don't fly through the US to get to that conference in Canada.

Re: Ex-Mozilla CTO: I was grilled for three hours at US airport by border cops

#58

Post by microcolonel »

musha68k wrote: post #44
mikeash wrote: post #14

Quick reminder: US citizens have an absolute right to reenter the country. Customs can temporarily detain you, but they cannot refuse entry. Any threat, whether implied or stated, that they will hold you until you unlock your device is not real. They can hold your stuff indefinitely, so be prepared to lose it if you go this route, but never unlock your device based on the idea that it’s the only way to go free. Non-c…

Quick reminder: Non US citizens only go to conferences outside the US. There is no excuse we should put up with this. Canada and EU are much better locations for this reason alone.

This is not remotely unique to the U.S.

Re: Ex-Mozilla CTO: I was grilled for three hours at US airport by border cops

#59

Post by navigatesol »

Zak wrote: post #45
mcv wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Keep data off your devices during travel, and download it once you're safe. If corporate, require external activation by someone from the company before the contents of your device are restored. That way you cannot be forced to divulge any company trade secrets, because you simply don't have access to them while you're crossing the border.

As others have mentioned, lying to the agents is illegal. This isn't: The password to this freshly wiped device is "Orwell1984". Feel free to have a look, but all you'll find is an app called "Secure Erase Free Space". This SD card I'm carrying separately? No, you can't have the password to that. Yes, I know, you can hold it indefinitely.

>No, you can't have the password to that. Yes, I know, you can hold it indefinitely.

I have a hard time believing that an audience that finds buying a car stressful (as is often stated in Tesla threads) is going to demonstrate assertiveness to a real authority...

Re: Ex-Mozilla CTO: I was grilled for three hours at US airport by border cops

#60

Post by Marsymars »

musha68k wrote: post #44
mikeash wrote: post #14

Quick reminder: US citizens have an absolute right to reenter the country. Customs can temporarily detain you, but they cannot refuse entry. Any threat, whether implied or stated, that they will hold you until you unlock your device is not real. They can hold your stuff indefinitely, so be prepared to lose it if you go this route, but never unlock your device based on the idea that it’s the only way to go free. Non-c…

Quick reminder: Non US citizens only go to conferences outside the US. There is no excuse we should put up with this. Canada and EU are much better locations for this reason alone.

Not much better in Canada: https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/guilty-plea-ends-case-t...
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