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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

#81

Post by tflol »

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.

In my case, wandering male Sydney Funnel-web Spiders make me want to avoid Australia

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

#82

Post by fone »

gruez wrote: post #64
grecy wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Or their response if you didn't give them the passcode, and the data port is rewired internally.

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

#83

Post by tavavex »

johnchristopher wrote: post #30
geocrasher wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 have been trying to create a facebook account recently, for work, I didn't use my real name (I just needed a facebook account to follow some pages). I got flagged and now have to provide additional proof of identity. Same for IG. I don't think it's as easy as before to create a temp. facebook account. After setting it up you need to feed it right.

Luckily, temporary/fake FB accounts are less necessary nowadays than ever. Out of all of my extended social circle (techy university students), I don't know a single one who actively uses Facebook. I don't see why not having an account should be seen as bad or suspicious.

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

#84

Post by hindsightbias »

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.

I've never understand why younger generations raised under constant surveillance, school metal detectors and always-on where's my kid apps will hold the privacy values older generations claim to revere.

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

#85

Post by gruez »

tavavex wrote: post #79
gruez wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>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?

>Can't they determine this based on the x-ray scan alone?

Not a bomb expert, but a laptop is just a bunch of electronics next to a solid mass (for the battery). A bomb is also just a bunch electronics next to a solid mass (for the explosive).

>I mean, what's the other option - would they arrest a person carrying non-working/for-parts hardware?

I doubt they'll arrest you, but I vaguely remember airline websites saying that any laptops you bring MUST be able to turn on so they might confiscate it.

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

#86

Post by akudha »

tamimio wrote: post #72
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.

I don’t think it will ever be an inconvenience to them. They’ll just hire more people and get more resources from the tax dollars. Plus, they probably enjoy irritating people even if it inconveniences them.

Most people probably won’t last long in such jobs. I for one, don’t want to spend all my working time annoying others and being a dick. But the ones who do last long, probably get a kick out of being a nuisance

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

#87

Post by stephenr »

tflol wrote: post #81
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.

In my case, wandering male Sydney Funnel-web Spiders make me want to avoid Australia

You could just visit the other 99.6% of the country that Sydney funnel-webs don't inhabit?

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

#88

Post by tamimio »

j5155 wrote: post #80
tamimio wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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?

It is indeed possible, recovering a fully deleted file or even chats logs is the easiest part, given it’s unlocked. I don’t know about Australia, but plenty of law enforcements use cellebrite (1), and there are other tools too that provide such forensic analysis.

(1) https://cellebrite.com/en/home/

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

#89

Post by tflol »

stephenr wrote: post #87
tflol wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In my case, wandering male Sydney Funnel-web Spiders make me want to avoid Australia

You could just visit the other 99.6% of the country that Sydney funnel-webs don't inhabit?

Not a risk I'm personally willing to take ;)

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

#90

Post by chinchilla2020 »

gwbas1c wrote: post #73
geocrasher wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

That's how I feel as well. I have far too many cloud services I rely on. Not to mention the need to check in with my email for business/personal at least once a day.
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