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posted by Fnord666 on Friday April 05 2019, @07:59AM   Printer-friendly
from the no-one-is-immune dept.

Former Mozilla CTO Andreas Gal has filed a complaint against US customs agents for aggressive interrogation and demanding the passcodes for his phones and laptops and denying him access to an attorney. His expedited Global Entry status was revoked for allegedly refusing to comply with the search. Andreas and the ACLU are requesting an investigation into the incident. He works for Apple these days.


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  • (Score: 2) by terrab0t on Friday April 05 2019, @01:55PM (4 children)

    by terrab0t (4674) on Friday April 05 2019, @01:55PM (#824885)

    I thought these invasive border searches were long ago established as legal. I know this is a case of a rich and influential person refusing to put up with what the rest of us have to accept, but didn’t his lawyers tell him he has no rights at the US border?

    The ACLU complaint adds that “critically, Dr. Gal never refused to provide the passcodes to access the electronic devices in his possession.”

    He clearly refused to provide the passcodes.

    CPB may require “reasonable suspicion” to access your devices, but what constitutes reasonable suspicion is a grey area. The law is on the border agents’ side here.

    Unless by some fluke the laws change to clearly respect privacy at the border (highly unlikely) we need to learn to wipe our devices before crossing it. This is beyond the capability of the average person, but the only way to protect your data from border security officers is to not have it, or any access to it, on your person.

    Factory reset your phone and wipe its memory card. Wipe your laptop’s hard drive and re‐install the OS.

    Don’t put anything on them until you clear customs at your destination. Wipe your devices again before you leave to travel back home.

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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday April 05 2019, @07:41PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday April 05 2019, @07:41PM (#825079)

    The electronic devices were the property of Apple, who as masters of international commerce should have clear and definite policy they can communicate to their employees on how to act with customs.

    Anyway, the guy here refused, but he was let in without having the devices seized or searched. They just lifted his Global Entry card, whatever usefulness it may have had.

  • (Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Friday April 05 2019, @08:43PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday April 05 2019, @08:43PM (#825106)

    He clearly refused to provide the passcodes.

    Were you there? Did you hear a recording? Watch a camera feed? Interview the officers involved? Until such a time you do, your choice is between The Verge's version of the story as dictated by the government's press release and the ACLU's version which is likely on a transcription or recording rather than just Gal's account.

    So, putting aside prejudice against the government or that scummy ex-Mozilla Apple turn-coat, do you think it's likely the ACLU would get involved if it wasn't for some concrete facts on their side?

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday April 05 2019, @08:50PM (1 child)

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday April 05 2019, @08:50PM (#825111)

    The ACLU complaint adds that “critically, Dr. Gal never refused to provide the passcodes to access the electronic devices in his possession.”

    He clearly refused to provide the passcodes.

    I think the ACLU's differentiation is that he didn't absolutely refuse. He wanted to talk to a lawyer first to find out what his responsibilities were to his employer regarding the (his employer's) data on the device.

    Frankly, given the amount of data on phones and laptops; the complexity of the law in general; that it is apparently perfectly legal for law enforcement to lie to you which means you cannot trust what they tell you; talking to lawyer first makes perfect sense.

    • (Score: 2) by terrab0t on Thursday April 11 2019, @12:31PM

      by terrab0t (4674) on Thursday April 11 2019, @12:31PM (#827868)

      From what I have read if you refuse to cooperate with CBP agents for any reason you can be charged, so he was in a no win situation. He had to either risk violating his responsibilities with his employer or face charges.

      Again, the only way to win here is to have no sensitive data on your person. Nothing stored on your devices. Nothing accessible by your devices. Nothing printed out on dead trees.