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Australian Border Force searched phones of 10k travellers in past two years

theguardian.com

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Re: Australian Border Force searched phones of 10k travellers in past two years

#61

Post by dento »

geocrasher wrote: post #23
williamdclt wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's a very loose definition of "easy"

Use whatever word you like better. Straightforward, Simple, uncomplicated not difficult. Seriously, set up a new phone, new number, new Gmail account, new IG/FB accounts, use them a week before you leave- tell your friends "Follow me here for my trip!" and have your phone number forwawrded. Put a few contacts in it. Done. Not a big deal at all for most technically competent people. That's us, right?

And when I have to access a 2FA protected account, like my bank or email, I do what?

Re: Australian Border Force searched phones of 10k travellers in past two years

#62

Post by grecy »

zensavona wrote: post #53

I'll just add a couple of details here since I have had this happen to me multiple times... I'm an Australian citizen and this applies just as much to me as a foreigner (for whom although I disagree about, I could make a reasonable argument for this being valid). Police require a warrant and/or reasonable suspicion of having committed a specific crime to search any part of you or your belongings. Border Force do not…

Have you tried not bringing a phone?

I'd be really interested in their response when you tell them you don't have one on you.

Re: Australian Border Force searched phones of 10k travellers in past two years

#63

Post by b112 »

cletus wrote: post #27

Story time: when I worked at Google we had a specific policy for traveling to and from China. IIRC it went something like this: 1. You absolutely aren't allowed to take your regular phone and laptop; 2. You will be given loaner devices to take into China; 3. If you're asked to open such devices on entry, comply and then, when you can, inform IT; 4. Once you got back, I'm not sure what happened to those devices. I bel…

If I ever have a company phone out of a employee's sight like this, eg border searches, from China to Canada, it's thrown in the garbage after.

There's no way wiping should be considered enough.

Re: Australian Border Force searched phones of 10k travellers in past two years

#64

Post by gruez »

grecy wrote: post #62
zensavona wrote: post #53

I'll just add a couple of details here since I have had this happen to me multiple times... I'm an Australian citizen and this applies just as much to me as a foreigner (for whom although I disagree about, I could make a reasonable argument for this being valid). Police require a warrant and/or reasonable suspicion of having committed a specific crime to search any part of you or your belongings. Border Force do not…

Have you tried not bringing a phone? I'd be really interested in their response when you tell them you don't have one on you.

Or their response if you gave them your phone and pin but it's a wiped/reset phone.

Re: Australian Border Force searched phones of 10k travellers in past two years

#65

Post by grecy »

alexey-salmin wrote: post #36
karaterobot wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As the article states, they can take your phone and try to hack it, but they can't otherwise punish you for refusing to give them your password.

They can refuse entry at any time, and legally speaking it's not punishment

No country can refuse entry to it's own citizen.

They must admit a citizen, but they can then arrest them immediately.

Re: Australian Border Force searched phones of 10k travellers in past two years

#66

Post by bloomingeek »

Rinzler89 wrote: post #55
zensavona wrote: post #53

I'll just add a couple of details here since I have had this happen to me multiple times... I'm an Australian citizen and this applies just as much to me as a foreigner (for whom although I disagree about, I could make a reasonable argument for this being valid). Police require a warrant and/or reasonable suspicion of having committed a specific crime to search any part of you or your belongings. Border Force do not…

Ah shit, comments like these and the videos from Boy Boy and Friendly Jordies makes me want to avoid traveling to Australia when I see how easily law enforcement there just violates people's rights using some legal loophole.

I couldn't agree more! Hypothetical: I wonder how they would react, on looking at my cell, if before leaving home I removed all my pictures and contacts, erased my internet history and removed all files? Would they think I'm hiding something or just being careful with my private data?

Instead of, "Don't leave home without it!", leave home without data on phone. :)

Re: Australian Border Force searched phones of 10k travellers in past two years

#67

Post by ThrowawayTestr »

zensavona wrote: post #53

I'll just add a couple of details here since I have had this happen to me multiple times... I'm an Australian citizen and this applies just as much to me as a foreigner (for whom although I disagree about, I could make a reasonable argument for this being valid). Police require a warrant and/or reasonable suspicion of having committed a specific crime to search any part of you or your belongings. Border Force do not…

What would you say to people claiming that Australia is falling into authoritarianism?

Re: Australian Border Force searched phones of 10k travellers in past two years

#68

Post by b112 »

zensavona wrote: post #47
jl6 wrote: post #14

10,000 phone searches in the last two years. 3.3m visitors in March 2024 alone. So something like 0.01% of travellers get their phones searched. How are those 0.01% selected? > The agency does not provide information on the success rate for searches, but has said a phone would only be seized where officers suspected it had “special forfeited goods” such as “illegal pornography, terrorism-related material and media th…

Also consider Australians who travel and return home. I have personally had my phone searched 3 times. I know many people who also have the same experience. One time I refused and let them keep the phone, just bought a new iPhone and restored it. Since then I was searched almost every time I went through the airport. After refusing to hand over the code (Politely... I explained that no, there is no terrorism material…

The trickster side of me, makes me think you should have made very ... sensual sounds as they groped you.

Yes bad idea, but funny idea too.

Re: Australian Border Force searched phones of 10k travellers in past two years

#69

Post by tamimio »

If you are using an iPhone, make sure to enable pair locking (1). Additionally, I recommend storing your photos (or your phone backup) on a LUKS-encrypted Linux laptop. Do not trust corporate encryption software; it’s better to use a new phone while traveling if you don’t want to bother with that.

(1) https://arkadiyt.com/2019/10/07/pair-locking-your-iphone-wit...

Re: Australian Border Force searched phones of 10k travellers in past two years

#70

Post by dazc »

grecy wrote: post #62
zensavona wrote: post #53

I'll just add a couple of details here since I have had this happen to me multiple times... I'm an Australian citizen and this applies just as much to me as a foreigner (for whom although I disagree about, I could make a reasonable argument for this being valid). Police require a warrant and/or reasonable suspicion of having committed a specific crime to search any part of you or your belongings. Border Force do not…

Have you tried not bringing a phone? I'd be really interested in their response when you tell them you don't have one on you.

Seems like a good case for having a basic Nokia just for travel purposes.
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