4 ms·

I would ask to rifle through their phone right in front of them. There's a subtle difference between something you'd want to hide (because it could be incrimin

I would ask to rifle through their phone right in front of them. There's a subtle difference between something you'd want to hide (because it could be incriminating) and something you don't want made public (because it could be embarrassing). I have nothing incriminating, but I have embarrassing stuff on my phone that I would rather nobody looked at. A phone is an intensely personal device where a lot of your private data resides, and it can reveal a lot of intimate things about you and your relationship with others. Many people do understand this (at least at an instinctive level) and would balk at the idea of someone invasively reading all this stuff on their phone. It's one I plan to use on airport security if they ever order me to decrypt my phone without a warrant.

oblio 9y ago
This is in my opinion the best answer. You want something that causes a visceral reaction, not rational arguments. The more disgust, fear, awkwardness you can cause with your action, the clearer the message you get across.
- gargravarr 9y ago
  Absolutely. And once you get that reaction, all you need to do to drive the privacy message home is to ask 'and why not?' No other words need to be said after that point, even if they can't come up with an answer.
Freak_NL 9y ago
Why would airport security care about your reasoning? They don't need a warrant when you're still outside the border, and they most likely are not in a position to bargain with you on what they may and may not do — and they probably won't respond favourably to any attempt to do so.
- gargravarr 9y ago
  True on all counts, but it might make the person actually doing the search question their own motives for doing so. Just because they have the power to conduct random warrantless searches with no prior suspicion (which I totally abhor as it likely leads to racial profiling, like Stop and Search here in the UK), does not mean they need to use it. Then again, I'm a university-educated white male. It'll probably never happen to me, but will disproportionately to others.
  - emile14 9y ago
    I'm not sure that security people have "motives" - I think they have jobs. If their job requires asking random people to decrypt their phones, then attempting to enlighten them is only going to annoy them.
Cthulhu_ 9y ago
Alternatively, depending on the situation, see if you have a personal conversation with them online, or whether you can get saucy stuff off their facebook.
metaloha 9y ago
This isn't a comparative response. Anything I put on Facebook is there with the full knowledge that it isn't going to be private, and that my activities there may be used for profiling purposes. Anything I put on my phone is under a presumption of privacy except as I specifically choose otherwise.
- dplgk 9y ago
  And except when companies use deceptive tactics to extract information and photos that you thought had a presumption of privacy. People were alarmed to see Facebook had a log of all their calls and text messages.
  - metaloha 9y ago
    That there is true. App permissions definitely need to be better explained during installation, and unless a permission is required for a fundamental function of the app, optional.

oblio 9y ago

This is in my opinion the best answer. You want something that causes a visceral reaction, not rational arguments. The more disgust, fear, awkwardness you can cause with your action, the clearer the message you get across.

gargravarr 9y ago
Absolutely. And once you get that reaction, all you need to do to drive the privacy message home is to ask 'and why not?' No other words need to be said after that point, even if they can't come up with an answer.

Freak_NL 9y ago

Why would airport security care about your reasoning? They don't need a warrant when you're still outside the border, and they most likely are not in a position to bargain with you on what they may and may not do — and they probably won't respond favourably to any attempt to do so.

gargravarr 9y ago
True on all counts, but it might make the person actually doing the search question their own motives for doing so. Just because they have the power to conduct random warrantless searches with no prior suspicion (which I totally abhor as it likely leads to racial profiling, like Stop and Search here in the UK), does not mean they need to use it. Then again, I'm a university-educated white male. It'll probably never happen to me, but will disproportionately to others.
- emile14 9y ago
  I'm not sure that security people have "motives" - I think they have jobs. If their job requires asking random people to decrypt their phones, then attempting to enlighten them is only going to annoy them.

Cthulhu_ 9y ago

Alternatively, depending on the situation, see if you have a personal conversation with them online, or whether you can get saucy stuff off their facebook.

metaloha 9y ago

This isn't a comparative response. Anything I put on Facebook is there with the full knowledge that it isn't going to be private, and that my activities there may be used for profiling purposes. Anything I put on my phone is under a presumption of privacy except as I specifically choose otherwise.

dplgk 9y ago
And except when companies use deceptive tactics to extract information and photos that you thought had a presumption of privacy. People were alarmed to see Facebook had a log of all their calls and text messages.
- metaloha 9y ago
  That there is true. App permissions definitely need to be better explained during installation, and unless a permission is required for a fundamental function of the app, optional.