This is a most excellent place for technology news and articles.
sorry, my phone is dead and won't hold a charge.
I'm half-expecting for it to turn out that he was being wholly compliant, and he's being accused of destruction of evidence because they were looking for something that never existed to begin with.
From reading up on the laws and if what this article says is true, even if they unlocked his phone and found evidence of crimes on it, gods case would be kicked to the curb as it was all an illegal search and correct procedures weren’t followed.
Border guards do not need a search warrant to search you and your property at a crossing. The search was perfectly legal.
Write the duress PIN on a piece of paper in your wallet. Someone searching your phone is probably also searching your wallet and may try the PIN.
Genius. Flips the script. In the process of conducting an illegal search, you deleted my phone causing considerable financial and emotional damage. Lawsuit time.
It probably won't work, at least (US)domestically. The requirement for obtaining a warrant before searching a phone is part of training because there is a clear Supreme Court ruling to that effect.
That being said, what the law says and what some random asshole does during a stop are not always the same thing.
This was a border crossing. No search warrant required.
They will 100% tell you they don't need a warrant if it's during any kind of traffic stop or border crossing.
If the duress pin makes obvious it's the duress pin then it's not really doing its job. It should instead open a profile with not much in it while erasing the other profile and files in the background.
They asked to unlock his phone, he entered the wipe instead personal pin, and the wipe starts, with no possible reversal.
I mean yeah they discover it when he hands them the phone and it shows something other than an unlocked screen... But he is still in detention? Making a fake homescreen will fdol them for like 30 secs tops until they open literally any app and sees it's either completely empty or that it doesn't work.
What would that solve? It just drags out the procedure
My understanding is you can't actually be forced (legally) to give up your phone's PIN or password as part of a police search, because it violates the 5th amendment against self-incrimination, even at the border. Now will they still find a way to fuck up your day if you refuse to unlock your phone, sure, but I feel like saying "I have a right under the 5th Amendment to not reveal my password" is going to be a lot easier to defend than "I intentionally wiped/locked/bricked my phone when you asked to look through it."
Depends
Most phones can be accessed by forensic software. The more secure phones are protected as long as they've just been restarted but before they're unlocked for the first time.
Some phones, like an up-to-date GrapheneOS on a supported Pixel, may resist forensic imaging after first unlocking but the information is in memory so there could potentially be zero days or other exotic methods of obtaining the data.
A duress wipe lets you know 100% that the data is not accessible.
Back up and wipe your phone before you cross the border. That way if they want to look at it, feel free to hand it to them. When you get back home, restore the backup.
Also consider getting a throwaway phone if they try to keep it.
What law did he break? Vs the warrantless search that is breaking the law. If only the supreme court didn't give them a pass.
Search without a warrant is valid at the border.
Or within 100 miles of it. Including all international airports. That just soh appens to be like 80% of the population or something.
It does not include airports. People need to stop repeating that
So I've learned :(
