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Australian man says border force made him hand over phone passcode
- xenospn 2y ago`“My only defence is to regress to 1985 and travel without a single electronic device, depriving me of my ability to communicate, my livelihood and to even call my airline.”` There’s an easier way. Just buy a device and keep it in Australia, and cross the border without a phone.
- zoklet-enjoyer 2y agoThis. He can upload his stuff to a server and download it after he crosses the border.
- xenospn 2y agoHappens automatically with iCloud.
- chatmasta 2y agoHow convenient, then the border force can just ask you to kindly hand over your iCloud password.
- zoklet-enjoyer 2y agoJust load up a phone with goatse pictures. That's not illegal, right?
- qingcharles 2y agoLOL. I'm imagining the entire phone's photo gallery just stuffed full of the most horribly offense material, but nothing that is technically illegal.
- jjgreen 2y ago... or for comedy effect, have a old Nokia brick phone just for travel to oppressive counties ...
- xenospn 2y agoGreat way to raise suspicion. Maybe buy an old android and fill it with random garbage that looks plausible.
- michaelt 2y agoMajor airports process 100,000 passengers per day. One-in-a-thousand occurrences happen hundreds of times per week. I don't imagine a person travelling without a phone would raise any eyebrows.
- __d 2y agoJust load it up with an emergency contact, your airline and flight details, the address and number of your (or any plausible) hotel, and that's it. If questioned, you can explain that you don't want to suffer the theft of private information, so you just travel without any. Do try avoid implying that they're the thieves you're most concerned about if you value your time. You need to travel without your laptop too, which is (for me, at least) much more trouble to replace at the destination. I tend to just carry a Chromebook or a fresh OS install with nothing private kept locally. It's a bit more awkward to get stuff done while I'm away (especially on the plane), but I can mostly use remote resources if I have to.
- globalnode 2y ago> travel to oppressive counties Thats pretty much all of them now.
- XajniN 2y agoIf we just look at traveling, not really, only the English speaking ones and partially Russia, for now. No one will ask you for your passwords when going to China or the North Korea.
- kogir 2y agoI’m probably a little odd but I wipe my devices before international travel. All my travel documents are printed. If they want to steal a device, I’ll just replace it. When I arrive safely I restore from backup and nothing is lost except an hour or so.
- shiggaz 2y agoHow do you save and restore the backup?
- j7ake 2y agoiPhone does this with iCloud.
- trueismywork 2y agoThey can technically ask for your included access as well.
- rohansingh 2y agoHow do you login to iCloud without any second factor available?
- mr_toad 2y agoSet up a recovery code (in advance). https://support.apple.com/en-us/109345 https://support.apple.com/en-us/109345
- qingcharles 2y agoAnd test before you leave!
- jackson1442 2y agocould use a hardware key
- 2y ago
- datahack 2y agoOnce you give governments power for security purposes, to “save the children,” or to “prevent terrorism,” they will use it for any purpose they please. It all started in the US with the patriot act after September 11th, and now we have warrantless, wholesale spying as a completely normalized reality 23 years later and absolutely no expectation of privacy for citizens. Their track record across the world is pretty consistent.
- gonzo41 2y agoGave. past tense buddy. That horse has bolted in the west.
- nordstreem 2y ago[flagged]
- datahack 2y agoIt’s a spectrum, or a road. It keeps giving and giving.
- nordstreem 2y ago[flagged]
- blackeyeblitzar 2y agoAnd now TSA is trialing facial recognition at airports across the country. To my horror, nearly everyone just accepts it and follows the process instead of opting out.
- pokeymcsnatch 2y agoThey present it in a way where it seems like you have to comply- "OK, now look into this camera and hold still". If you don't read the signs (and from what I saw, no one does...), you may not understand that it's optional. The dishonesty is on purpose of course.
- aaron695 2y agoThis is common in Australia. Many stories about it. Legality here - https://www.tiktok.com/@jahankalantarofficial/video/7351713449845525767 https://www.tiktok.com/@jahankalantarofficial/video/73517134... Obviously as a non citizen you are extra screwed. I've tried multiple logins as a solution. I think using profiles on Android is underused in general. Not sure if it even works. The cloud and back after you cross needs to be written up. They image your phone, that might/will include deleted data. A lot of Australians take a overseas phone. This needs more attention, including plausible deniability like Veracrypt. If the West does it to even their own citizens so will China and everyone
- _r4nc 2y agoI really wish we had duress passcodes for iOS and Android.
- bagels 2y agoWhat would those passwords do? Would that thing be a crime in Australia?
- grugagag 2y agoThere could be multiple duress passwords, one type would silently wipe the phone while displaying some fake data in a fake/locked down OS. Another would brick the device, another would turn on tracking and call authorities of choice..
- _r4nc 2y agoBricking or wiping isn't a good option because it makes it obvious what you did. One of the properties you want from a duress passcode is to convince the attacker (the border force in this case) you gave them what they want. Convincing fake data is hard to generate and easy to spot. Another alternative is for the duress passcode to unlock a subset of data and apps. This lets them see real but uninteresting data like contacts or family photos while keeping your personal documents (business, legal, medical, financial, keychain, or otherwise sensitive) private.
- yreg 2y agoAndroid has profiles, so at least you can log in to your travel profile in advance. If only iOS supported accounts.
- budududuroiu 2y agoWhat’s wrong with Australia, I swear for the past couple years these guys saw every authoritarian dystopian movie and went “hold my biya”
- 10u152 2y agoIt’s depressing, both major political parties are enthusiastic about the idea of removing as many rights of citizens as possible.
- budududuroiu 2y agoBut why? Like for example, in the US you can chalk it up to reducing labor rights to drive down cost and increase stock price, but what’s the reason Australia has this authoritarian boner atm?
- a_bonobo 2y agoAustralia is a special case as it does not have a national-level bill of rights [1]. There are various cases that enshrine aspects of human rights as Australia is party to many UN human rights agreements, but there is no central easy document people can go back to like the US constitution or the German Grundgesetz. That allows for easy overreach that has to, time and time again, be pushed back by courts and then enshrined in new laws. For example, age discrimination is unconstitutional in some countries but is only illegal in Australia since the Age Discrimination Act 2004. So Australia needs piecemeal laws for every civil rights issue. [1] https://peo.gov.au/understand-our-parliament/how-parliament-works/system-of-government/rights-in-australia https://peo.gov.au/understand-our-parliament/how-parliament-...
- nojvek 2y agoAustralia is very much a Nanny state. You get fined for all sorts of things - Jay walking, biking without helmet, speeding over 5km/h, red light cameras, changing lanes without signal e.t.c
- 2y ago
- ukd1 2y agoAt least they didn't try enforce real (jail time) penalties for not disclosing; Australia, the UK and others have key-disclosure laws - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Key_disclosure_law#Legislation_by_nation https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Key_disclosure_law#Legislation...
- throwaway5u2o29 2y agoThis happened to me upon entering the US by air. I wasn't given a reason, it was declared a random check. I was asked if my device contained any contraband, like illegal porn or beheading videos. I had the option of handing over my passcode, or have my device confiscated and sent to a lab for cracking. As a non-citizen, I complied. The device was searched for about an hour out of my sight. Meanwhile, I was quizzed by another border agent. In hindsight, I realized that this gave access to my keychain and all my cloud documents. It feels very violating. If anyone has suggestions how to prepare for this in advance, let me know. All of this is completely legal under current law. https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/without-warrants-u-s-border-agents-search-devices-wide-range-n1000251 https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/without-warrants-u-s-... https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/5983533-90-2.html https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/5983533-90-2.html
- profsummergig 2y agoBeheading videos are illegal? Why? I believe they have journalistic value.
- OutOfHere 2y agoI don't think they're illegal, but journalism aside, they may at times be suggestive of a terroristic inclination. It will raise further red flags. They can however lie to you that the possession is illegal and detain you for it, even though it's legal as per the First Amendment, and no jury will find you guilty if you quote the First Amendment in your defense, except in the event of a Supreme Court precedent against such possession.
- blackeyeblitzar 2y agoSome countries like NZ and Australia do ban content that is violence and censor it despite journalistic value. They recently tried to force X to ban footage of a stabbing globally for all users, and Musk said no luckily.
- seoulmetro 2y ago
- underlogic 2y agoThe solution to this is simple; erase your devices before you cross an international border and carry no data storage. If the reset device was taken from you then it's been bugged go buy a replacement. Otherwise just log back in to the cloud on the other side.
- yreg 2y agoEh, how was it bugged?
- underlogic 2y agoDepends on the device. When they take it out of sight they'll plug it into an automated unit that just hoovers up the data and sends it to intel. They want to build a detailed profile on every traveller. Now if you wipe the device and are logged out of your accounts, they're stuck. So they leave a rootkit that relays the login info when you type it in at home later. If they take your device out of sight or plug it into any of their hardware, then it's a write off. Straight to Craigslist
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- stanislavb 2y agoWhat about all the banking apps etc. It's will be still painful replacing them.
- asdefghyk 2y agoRE "...Australian Border Force officials forced an Australian-US dual national to hand over his passcodes to his phone..." Its the law in Australia. Its an offence not to provided the passwords.
- DEADMINCE 2y agoYup, a pretty backwards law. Solution is to use a wiped device and only have servers in the US to store info.
- blackeyeblitzar 2y agoIt’s so strange to see a country concerned about Chinese incidence essentially turn into them, with greater and greater threats to free speech, digital freedoms, and privacy. It’s one thing to complain about China and another thing to complain about them while adopting the worst of their practices and none of the good pieces.
- banish-m4 2y agoUS and AU governments can fuck right off with this gestapo horseshit. Also, don't follow random people you meet on social media or appear in photographs with them because a few people will be watchlisted, and there is no logic to the proliferation of watchlists and their taint will cause you problems for the rest of your life.
- kkfx 2y agoNo issue for me "my device was wiped just before the trip, I have a homeserver for my needs" with a large 258 teeth smile showing an old 3310.