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 His expedited Global Entry status was revoked for allegedly refusing to comply with the search.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.
(Score: 3, Touché) by shortscreen on Friday April 05 2019, @05:06PM (1 child)
that's the FBI, this is about Customs
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday April 06 2019, @10:20AM
Yes, but customs holds sway 100 miles in from all US borders. Think on that.
When traveling through Texas, I was stopped at such a US Customs "in country" control point. It was literally 50 or more miles from the border. In some countries, that'd be the entire country. ;P
Yet there they were, permanent check-point, guns and customs ready to search anyone they wanted. I was questioned (Are you American, what are you doing here, any drugs in your car), and allowed to pass unmolested. Well, other than the stop.
I'm astonished that US citizens allow this to stand. It's mind boggling. I hold no sway over the US, as I'm not a citizen and was only visiting -- and, if I visit China I don't complain to them about their laws either, and generally only comply.
But... that's crazy. I'd go bananas if that happened here.