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posted by cmn32480 on Friday September 14 2018, @04:51PM   Printer-friendly
from the digital-larceny dept.

Submitted via IRC for SoyCow1984

A US Muslim woman whose iPhone was taken from her by US Customs and Border Protection (CPB) is suing to have her property returned. But the property in question isn't the phone itself, which was eventually returned, but the data stored on it and retained by CPB. As searches of electronic devices belonging to people entering or returning to the US continue to become more frequent, this case and others are raising important questions about what can and should be searched and retained by the US government.

According to the court documents filed by Rejhane Lazoja and her attorneys, Lazoja was returning to the US from Zurich, Switzerland on February 26th of this year. She was questioned and held by customs officers for some time and then asked to produce any electronic devices she had on hand. The agents confiscated her phone and asked her to unlock it multiple times, but Lazoja refused saying that it had photos of her in "a state of undress without her hijab" as well as sensitive communications with her lawyer. The agents ultimately kept her phone.

After 120 days, Lazoja finally got her phone back but only after involving her attorneys, one of which told Ars Technica that federal authorities had "forensically cracked" her phone and copied what was on it before returning it. But as the court documents note, officials have never given any reasons for why the phone was seized in the first place. "Seizing and searching a cell phone is unlike seizing or searching any other property," the complaint states. "Cell phones are a uniquely intimate and expansive repository of our lives. They do far more than just make calls and send emails; they monitor and log much of our movement, activity and even our thinking in real time."

Source: https://www.engadget.com/2018/08/25/us-customs-lawsuit-copied-iphone-data/


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  • (Score: 2) by loonycyborg on Friday September 14 2018, @05:31PM (9 children)

    by loonycyborg (6905) on Friday September 14 2018, @05:31PM (#734922)

    They probably wanted to sell it off like all other confiscated stuff, everything must bring income to justify funding. And a person who refuses to unlock is a good excuse, can easily say that they probably are hiding something unlawful. Most people wouldn't bother with all those procedures to get it back.

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  • (Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Friday September 14 2018, @05:40PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday September 14 2018, @05:40PM (#734926)

    Yeah well righteous indignation does tend to give an extra boost to motivation. Profiling, harassment, and unjust seizure are pretty good methods to inspire anger.

  • (Score: 4, Insightful) by urza9814 on Friday September 14 2018, @05:56PM (4 children)

    by urza9814 (3954) on Friday September 14 2018, @05:56PM (#734936) Journal

    And hey, even if they ARE innocent, if you keep oppressing them enough they'll be a "terrorist" eventually!

    • (Score: 4, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Friday September 14 2018, @06:16PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Friday September 14 2018, @06:16PM (#734941)

      Best way to justify a police state. First, create a police state. Harassment of innocents leads to disrespect of the law. Disrespect of the law leads to lawbreaking and civil disobedience. Lawbreaking and civil disobedience creates more criminals (by definition). Thus, the police state is justified.

      Successful forms of authoritarianism tend to create the conditions necessary to justify the authoritarianism. The best kind of self-fulfilling prophecy.

    • (Score: 4, Insightful) by DannyB on Friday September 14 2018, @06:31PM (2 children)

      by DannyB (5839) Subscriber Badge on Friday September 14 2018, @06:31PM (#734951) Journal

      if you keep oppressing them enough they'll be a "terrorist" eventually!

      Some people say Princess Leia Organa was a freedom fighter, not a terrorist. But are they correct?

      Luke Skywalker became radicalized, and then a terrorist. Then he recruited Han Solo, who also become a terrorist.

      --
      People today are educated enough to repeat what they are taught but not to question what they are taught.
      • (Score: 2) by krishnoid on Friday September 14 2018, @07:31PM (1 child)

        by krishnoid (1156) on Friday September 14 2018, @07:31PM (#734994)

        Hmm ... Leia = rich, white; Luke = white, male; Solo = white, male; Rey = white, poor, female ... ?

        Hello, SJW Customs Enforcement? I need four privilege checks run here. Oh, and I know it might be hard to find someone free while the furry convention is in town, but if you have someone free, I'd like one on Chewbacca as well -- thanks.

        • (Score: 4, Funny) by DannyB on Friday September 14 2018, @08:23PM

          by DannyB (5839) Subscriber Badge on Friday September 14 2018, @08:23PM (#735031) Journal

          Any chef will tell you that Wookie steaks are very chewey.

          --
          People today are educated enough to repeat what they are taught but not to question what they are taught.
  • (Score: 3, Funny) by Bot on Friday September 14 2018, @10:22PM (2 children)

    by Bot (3902) on Friday September 14 2018, @10:22PM (#735111) Journal

    > Most people wouldn't bother with all those procedures to get it back.
    you are not very familiar with young women and their phones are you?

    --
    Account abandoned.
    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday September 15 2018, @07:30AM (1 child)

      by Anonymous Coward on Saturday September 15 2018, @07:30AM (#735229)

      Don't carry anything you can't afford to lose while travelling

      • (Score: 2) by DannyB on Monday September 17 2018, @01:35PM

        by DannyB (5839) Subscriber Badge on Monday September 17 2018, @01:35PM (#735954) Journal

        Don't carry anything you can't afford to lose while travelling

        Like your identity?

        Unfortunately you do carry things that are very valuable. Like a laptop computer. Or a phone. You should have a general expectation that you won't lose it at border security or TSA. (Thieves while traveling are another matter, but it seems that TSA and CBP are the most likely places you encounter the thieves under color of law.)

        Another point.

        It's one thing to lose a device. I can remote wipe it. Etc. But this article is about the data. Why should they be allowed to search the phone in the first place? And then why should they even be allowed to make a copy of the data, and then keep it?

        --
        People today are educated enough to repeat what they are taught but not to question what they are taught.