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Can the US Custom force someone to unlock an encrypted drive or deny entry if you dont comply ? Im fine with the search but they have no right to scan my noteb

by spdy 15y ago

Can the US Custom force someone to unlock an encrypted drive or deny entry if you dont comply ? Im fine with the search but they have no right to scan my notebook etc.

tnuc 15y ago
They can't really deny you entry if you have a US passport. Yes they can charge you/confiscate if you don't cooperate/unlock your data. You might be better off hiding it in plain view, it's not like they're going to do much more than a cursory glance.
- felixfurtak 15y ago
  If you're that worried about your data, tar, gpg and then dd it to an unused portion of your hd.
- dbuxton 15y ago
  The tone of this entire thread is very paranoid and it's not helped by slightly rash comments like this. The EFF says that you can't be required to unlock encrypted files without a court order. https://www.eff.org/document/defending-privacy-us-border-guide-travelers-carrying-digital-devices https://www.eff.org/document/defending-privacy-us-border-gui... Whether or not that's a good idea is up to you and certainly (as a non-US citizen) I'd be very reluctant to start making a fuss - if I had anything sufficiently sensitive that a long flight home seemed the less-bad option, I would have just sent it in parallel. FWIW I'm a Canadian citizen and when returning to that country I refuse, politely, to answer any questions whatsoever (which have become really quite intrusive) on the grounds that there is no legal requirement to answer. It often leads to a customs screen (which is a ten minute delay/irritation) but there, and I assume in the US, there is no right to deny entry to someone holding valid travel documents.
bwooce 15y ago
Yes. They can also take your property away to search it, returning it months later. The final decision of entry to a country(at that point) lies with the immigration officer. I imagine you can ask nicely for a review after you've been flown back to your point of origin. I'll dig up some links, but seizure of non-citizen's computers at US borders is possible and scary. I treat the US border like a hackers conference - take a freshly imaged device, and refresh it on your return.

by spdy 15y ago

Can the US Custom force someone to unlock an encrypted drive or deny entry if you dont comply ? Im fine with the search but they have no right to scan my notebook etc.

tnuc 15y ago

They can't really deny you entry if you have a US passport. Yes they can charge you/confiscate if you don't cooperate/unlock your data. You might be better off hiding it in plain view, it's not like they're going to do much more than a cursory glance.

felixfurtak 15y ago
If you're that worried about your data, tar, gpg and then dd it to an unused portion of your hd.
dbuxton 15y ago
The tone of this entire thread is very paranoid and it's not helped by slightly rash comments like this. The EFF says that you can't be required to unlock encrypted files without a court order. https://www.eff.org/document/defending-privacy-us-border-guide-travelers-carrying-digital-devices https://www.eff.org/document/defending-privacy-us-border-gui... Whether or not that's a good idea is up to you and certainly (as a non-US citizen) I'd be very reluctant to start making a fuss - if I had anything sufficiently sensitive that a long flight home seemed the less-bad option, I would have just sent it in parallel. FWIW I'm a Canadian citizen and when returning to that country I refuse, politely, to answer any questions whatsoever (which have become really quite intrusive) on the grounds that there is no legal requirement to answer. It often leads to a customs screen (which is a ten minute delay/irritation) but there, and I assume in the US, there is no right to deny entry to someone holding valid travel documents.

bwooce 15y ago

Yes. They can also take your property away to search it, returning it months later. The final decision of entry to a country(at that point) lies with the immigration officer. I imagine you can ask nicely for a review after you've been flown back to your point of origin. I'll dig up some links, but seizure of non-citizen's computers at US borders is possible and scary. I treat the US border like a hackers conference - take a freshly imaged device, and refresh it on your return.