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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

#71

Post by nomilk »

peutetre wrote: post #2

> The department data reveals that close to 94% of the time people freely revealed their phone passcode to officers, despite there being no legal requirement to do so. There really needs to be better education in civics. It's so important to know your rights, especially when someone in a position of authority tries to abuse that authority.

"freely". The context here matters.

The tone when entering any country is already quite serious (i.e. passengers must proceed according to airport/airline rules and processes).

Australia's inbound UX has a few additional aspects that make the tone more stern.

An announcement is made on inbound international flights' about fines/deportation for undeclared risks to biosecurity; minds start to wonder about the wooden chess board or leather belt; it's typical to second-guess or be a bit nervous, especially non-English speakers who only caught every second word.

A formal-looking document ('Incoming Passenger Card' [1]) must then be completed.

Airport staff are generally slightly authoritarian (Australia's aren't the worst in this regard, but it contributes to the vibe the passenger perceives).

After a passenger has experienced this serious tone for several hours, they could perceive further requests in the same context as being ones best not politely declined.

[1] https://www.google.com/search?q=incoming+passenger+card+aust...

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

#72

Post by tamimio »

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…

> They have successfully made it inconvenient enough for me to comply.

That’s the point, unfortunately, that method works because most people just hand over their code without any questions, if enough people refused, it will be inconvenient to them not the other way around.

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

#73

Post by gwbas1c »

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?

I'm technically competent and that's a huge, huge deal for me. What you describe is 15-20 hours of work.

I'm far too busy to do that.

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

#74

Post by gwbas1c »

op00to wrote: post #21
bongobingo1 wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just make sure you use it for a few days before hand so it doesn't appear to be a burner phone, lest you be considered suspicious and remanded for additional interrogation.

My company requires us to use a "burner" phone and laptop when we travel internationally. I can helpfully print out the policy from the employee handbook and show it to the border guard. I'm not sure that's considered as suspicious as you think absent any other suspicious behaviors.

I think saying something like "I bought a cheap phone for the trip because I don't want to lose my good one." should be good enough?

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

#75

Post by tamimio »

bloomingeek wrote: post #66
Rinzler89 wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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. :)

> on looking at my cell, if before leaving home I removed all my pictures and contacts, erased my internet history and removed all files?

They take a whole dump for future forensic if needed, and that includes the ability to restore what you have deleted.

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

#76

Post by sebzim4500 »

qingcharles wrote: post #58

At Heathrow airport I was offered the option of switching my laptop on to show them it worked, plus a full body x-ray, or "the other option" (man waves a pair of gloves insinuating a full body cavity search). So, you can see what (mostly) everyone would choose there. The only bonus was that security man managed to walk me around the 2-hour long security line.

I don't think proving the laptop turns on is an unreasonable request. You just have to show them a log-in screen to prove it isn't a bomb.

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

#77

Post by tavavex »

jkaplowitz wrote: post #34
LimeLimestone wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Does it apply to non-citizens? As far as I know, in the US you can politely decline a phone search if you are a US citizen. If you're a foreign tourist your only choice is either to allow the search or be denied entry to the Land of Freedom™ How does it work in Australia?

At the US international border, no, even US citizens can’t prevent the phone search regardless of whether or not they consent. They can however usually decline to give a PIN, passcode, or password or to assist in unlocking the phone by entering such a credential, and they can’t be refused entry to the US. However, CBP can then temporarily seize the phone to perform a more comprehensive attempt at searching it. Gettin…

While I was born after 9/11, I'm think I've heard that these unprecedented powers were given to CBP (and other border agencies around the world) after that event.

Most people crossing any border face little friction like this, but when you dig in and see what border agents are allowed to do, it gets a bit unnerving. Especially so for the US, the self-proclaimed land of the free.

Consider this - the CBP is granted wide-reaching powers that can supersede what actual police are allowed to do. They're allowed to racially profile, discriminate, search or detain anyone for any reason - citizen or not. Search warrants aren't required. Punishments like refusing foreigners entry for no reason or marking citizens to be additionally screened for the rest of their life can't be contested and are absolute. They are insulated from being sued, and may not need to follow Freedom of Information requests (not sure if this was reverted or not). They can do any of this within 100 miles of any external US borders - a.k.a. most major cities in the country. You don't actually need to be crossing or have crossed a border to be held up. Freedom!

The more you read into it, the more it seems that the federal US government has written a black check in terms of what some people are allowed to do. In the vast majority of cases, border guards are reasonable and don't overstep any boundaries - but I'm confused at why Americans, with the culture of valuing individual freedoms over all, aren't concerned with the hypothetical consequences these powers provide.

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

#78

Post by tavavex »

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?

Honestly, if you need your information to be secure to this of an extent, you should just use a dumbphone and skip all of these lengthy setup steps. And it's cheaper, too!

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

#79

Post by tavavex »

gruez wrote: post #60
qingcharles wrote: post #58

At Heathrow airport I was offered the option of switching my laptop on to show them it worked, plus a full body x-ray, or "the other option" (man waves a pair of gloves insinuating a full body cavity search). So, you can see what (mostly) everyone would choose there. The only bonus was that security man managed to walk me around the 2-hour long security line.

>switching my laptop on to show them it worked That seems... fine? They're not asking you unlock your laptop, just to turn it on, presumably to prove it's actually a laptop and not a bomb in a laptop's case.

Can't they determine this based on the x-ray scan alone? I mean, what's the other option - would they arrest a person carrying non-working/for-parts hardware?

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

#80

Post by j5155 »

tamimio wrote: post #75
bloomingeek wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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. :)

> on looking at my cell, if before leaving home I removed all my pictures and contacts, erased my internet history and removed all files? They take a whole dump for future forensic if needed, and that includes the ability to restore what you have deleted.

Surely this is not possible (assuming the recently deleted folder is cleared)? I know it could be done with insecurely erased hard drives but I dont think any phones are using those?
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