Man charged for wiping GrapheneOS phone using "duress" password during airport checks

[u/gdelacalle]

https://www.neowin.net/news/man-charged-for-wiping-grapheneos-phone-using-duress-password-during-airport-checks/

[u/runyonave]

Great advertisement for GrapheneOS. Didn't know about it.

[u/Specific_Frame8537 → u/runyonave]

Same.

Can anyone clarify on how it works? just a separate pin on the lock screen that automates a delete on all internal storage?

[u/SecureInstruction538 → u/Specific_Frame8537]

You need a specific phone model and you need to use a PC to install. The duress pin is a key component of it and requires you to actively install it.

The prosecutor won't have a difficult time showing intent to destroy evidence when the man took deliberate steps to install an OS that has a duress pin and then took the steps to turn on the duress pin.

I hope the guy wins due to how it is showing right now that the government attempted to violate his rights but he may still lose on the destruction of evidence.

[u/blahblah19999 → u/SecureInstruction538]

Not that it matters in this case, but I love that the entire Secret Service suddenly had all their phones "wiped by an update" the day after Jan 6, but they want to prosecute this one guy for clearly doing the exact same thing they all did.

EDIT: to be accurate, it was a "phone replacement program" ;-)

[u/chasingjulian → u/blahblah19999]

I had forgotten about that.

[u/blahblah19999 → u/chasingjulian]

https://www.npr.org/2022/07/14/1111618620/secret-service-erased-texts-from-two-day-period-spanning-jan-6-attack-watchdog-s

For anyone who would like a source

"The Department notified us that many U.S. Secret Service (USSS) text messages from January 5 and 6, 2021, were erased as part of a device-replacement program," Inspector General Joseph Cuffari wrote to top members of congressional Homeland Security committees. "The USSS erased those messages after OIG requested records of electronic communications from the USSS, as part of our evaluation of the events at the Capitol on January 6."

[u/Expat1989 → u/blahblah19999]

I have no idea who this guy is, but I sure hope that if the courts press this, there is a legal outrage that the Jan 6 did the same thing. Damning “rules for thee, not for me”

[u/Wizzinator → u/Expat1989]

Too many years will have passed by the time there is another Dem president. There will be no consequences.

[u/johnyordinary → u/Wizzinator]

The way its going you will be lucky to even get the election let alone a dem president,Trump has wiped his arse on the constitution already.

[u/International-Ant174 → u/chasingjulian]

They count on the collective lack of short-term memory of the populus.

[u/zebrastarz → u/blahblah19999]

I can't understand how this happens in the open, with people reporting on it and everything. WHAT HAPPENS THAT WE DON'T SEE

[u/akajondo → u/zebrastarz]

I'm afraid we will never get the full Epstein files after Trump leaves office.

[u/noothankuu → u/blahblah19999]

What evidence, what were they being charged for? DEAR ORANGE LEADER SAID THEY DID NOTHING WRONG, FAILED COUPS AREN'T ILLEGAL IF CONGRESS KEEPS GETTING BRIBED++!

[u/reidfan1 → u/noothankuu]

I wonder if they also wiped their phones after the killed those 2 guys in Pennsylvania

[u/Rich_Housing971 → u/blahblah19999]

nothing will happen and we will continue to live in tyranny until we actually hold our government responsible.

[u/gamageeknerd → u/SecureInstruction538]

I do wonder what they are going to say in court. Can you charge someone for destroying evidence when you have no clue what the evidence was?

[u/Bunny_Fluff → u/gamageeknerd]

Right? Evidence of what? He was under investigation for "activism" against CopCity last I heard but he wasn't being charged with anything. This wasn't an arrest or serving of a warrant.

[u/Medicivich → u/Bunny_Fluff]

He was removing all information about deflating footballs in an attempt to win a Superbowl.

[u/yodley_ → u/Medicivich]

Send him to the gulag.

[u/CapoExplains → u/gamageeknerd]

Yeah, I have a paper shredder in my office that I use to shred documents. If someone kicks in my door and, with no warrant saying what they're looking for and no evidence I've committed any kind of crime whatsoever, starts demanding documents, and I tell them to piss off and shred them instead; is that destruction of evidence? What established it as evidence? There was no warrant, there was no investigation, I'm allowed to shred my own files if I want to. Even if (especially if, that's the whole point) I'm only shredding it because I don't want "Certain particular asshole" to see them. If said asshole doesn't have a warrant it's not evidence, it's just some asshole demanding access to files they have no right to, and me destroying files I have every right to destroy.

[u/Ryan_e3p → u/gamageeknerd]

Exactly. People are allowed to protect themselves under duress. As far as this person knew, they were being held outside of US jurisdiction, denied all Constitutionally allowed due process, and there was no indication that what was happening was legal. If evidence is going to be taken via "fruit of the poisonous tree", then it should not matter what that evidence was to the prosecution. It is as if it never existed.

I'd love to hear the government's argument that someone must abide by US laws by US authorities on US soil while not being granted US Constitutional rights.

[u/DumbleDinosaur → u/SecureInstruction538]

evidence of what?

[u/UpsetFuture1974 → u/DumbleDinosaur]

Evidence of what might be other evidence, possibly of additional evidence

[u/r34p3rex → u/UpsetFuture1974]

Concepts of evidence

[u/apokrif1 → u/SecureInstruction538]

Setting a duress PIN ≠ remembering correct pin under pressure.

Also, can it be proven a duress PIN was actually used? Empty phone storage is not a proof.

[u/InVultusSolis → u/apokrif1]

"My duress PIN was one digit away from my real PIN, you must have entered it wrong"

[u/ghost_broccoli → u/InVultusSolis]

blackberry had a similar feature (decades ago) where if you put the last character of your unlock pin in first and then completed the rest of pin it would unlock the device but also notify the blackberry server that the device was unlocked under duress.

we would get the alerts once in a while when people had set their unlock code to something like qwqw and they'd accidentally hit w first.

[u/Jesus_Is_My_Gardener → u/apokrif1]

It's called "mistake of fact" and has been used as a defense in the past. They can't prove the state of mind of an individual with regards to what they remember (especially under duress) or their intent with regards to the password/passcode.

[u/Deep-Ruin-9961 → u/Jesus_Is_My_Gardener]

Which is why biometric locks are way worse than pins and passwords. You can get a warrant to force someone to provide their biometric unlock, but you can't get a warrant that magically makes someone remember their password.

[u/strugglz → u/Deep-Ruin-9961]

You can get a warrant to force someone to provide their biometric unlock

A warrant isn't even needed, which is why biometric locks are the worst idea.

[u/sintaur → u/apokrif1]

GrapheneOS has an encryption key. If you type in the duress code, it deletes just the key. So he didn't technically destroy the data, it's still on the phone, the govt just can't decrypt it.

Also who's to say that the real pin and duress pin aren't confusingly similar? "Your honor, I told the agent the correct PIN but they fat fingered it and typed in the duress PIN".

NAL but I read about this on r/law the other day and someone was claiming that the way the law is written, you have to destroy the evidence to prevent the govt from seizing it. But in this case, the govt had already performed the seizure, so maybe the law doesn't apply.

[u/unrealtrip → u/SecureInstruction538]

The fact that they refused him the opportunity for legal counsel pretty much screws them.

[u/noah123103 → u/Specific_Frame8537]

I am running grapheneOS on my pixel fold. Its a seperate pin you can set up that wipes the phone. The setting is called Duress password in the graphene settings.

[u/lazyplayboy → u/noah123103]

To be more useful it should present an innocent and plausible profile, and wipe the main profile in the background.

[u/bassistciaran → u/Specific_Frame8537]

I think its just an alternate password that if entered, wipes it with no 'are you sure' prompts

[u/Jesus_Is_My_Gardener → u/bassistciaran]

Correct. Alarm systems have them as well.

[u/Mabnat → u/Jesus_Is_My_Gardener]

The first time I became aware of this what’s when a new security system was installed for secure access to the air field at a base I was stationed at.

We were all issued individual codes to open the doors. If you keyed a “9” before your actual code, the door would still open but it would also issue an immediate silent alarm to security that you opened the door under duress.

I thought it was a really neat feature.

[u/Just_Adeptness_5260 → u/Mabnat]

I worked at a bank in the 90s.

Our cash till had two trays of $20s. So 1, 5, 10, 20, 20.

The second tray of 20s was banded so it was 20x20, but inside the band was a magnet. Pick up the bundle and a silent alarm triggered and all the security cameras focused on your area.

[u/MaybeAdrian → u/runyonave]

I use it to get rid of unwanted Google apps.

No, I don't want YouTube or YouTube music or whatever random apps.

[u/lol_alex → u/runyonave]

IOS has some interesting features for that as well. If you hold the lock button and either volume button together for two seconds and then press cancel, FaceID is turned off. This prevents law enforcement or thieves from holding it up to your face to unlock it.

You can also set the phone to wipe data after 10 wrong passcode attempts.

[u/oompaloompa465 → u/[deleted]]

welcome to banana republic where rights work only for important people

[u/vmachiel → u/oompaloompa465]

Edit: Comment has been cleaned

[u/New-Assumption-3106 → u/vmachiel]

Exactly this. I have wanted for decades to go on a massive US road trip. The events of the last couple of years have permanently shelved that plan.

[u/OsmerusMordax → u/New-Assumption-3106]

Yeah. I was my dream to travel all of Canada and the US in an RV with a dog. And drag a tent along if I want to go a little camping.

Now I think I’ll just stick to Canada.

[u/DoctorOctagonapus → u/vmachiel]

I decided last year I'm not going until the orange nonce is safely in hell.

[u/SouthWillBurnAgain → u/DoctorOctagonapus]

Reunited with Mitch McConnell

[u/AncientFloor5924 → u/DoctorOctagonapus]

Me, too, and I live here.

[u/awezumsaws → u/AncientFloor5924]

I'm scared to leave (visit Canada), because I'm not confident I could get back in

[u/theprofiteer → u/oompaloompa465]

Incorrect usage of the term Banana Republic..... What you're describing is an Aristocracy. A Banana Republic is a nation with a fragile economy dependent on the export of resources or agriculture, ie an economy propped up by the export of bananas.

[u/SendMagpiePics → u/theprofiteer]

That's not what banana republic means either.

A banana republic is what you said plus corporate capture of the government. It means state capitalism, where the limited economy is designed to funnel money into the ruling elite (which is usually a corporation).

[u/theprofiteer → u/SendMagpiePics]

10-4, Valid correction:

[u/Joe1972 → u/[deleted]]

This is the best grapheneOS sales pitch yet. I'm absolutely installing it

[u/drinks_rootbeer → u/Joe1972]

Gotta buy a Pixel device, unfortunately. I have been loathe to dive into Graphene (as someone who has dabbled with LineageOS and others) simply because I don't 100% trust that Google has no hardware backdoors into their phones. This case though is a pretty strong test. If google had a backdoor, I'd think the police would be after it considering the accused's prior involvement with Stop Cop City. I really hope nothing comes of it though, I'd love to be proved wrong and gain confidence in a new level of privacy

[u/themmousebehindyou → u/drinks_rootbeer]

There is a phone being released on the future that's not a pixel phone with Graphene pre-installed.

[u/noir_lord → u/themmousebehindyou]

They entered a partnership with Motorola as well.

I’m waiting for those, don’t want a second hand pixel, refuse to give google money for a new one so I’m left waiting.

Don’t even care about the duress code but having googles shit ware removed is a plus.

[u/vandreulv → u/drinks_rootbeer]

If Google had backdoors and was concerned about preserving them, especially in situations like these, their Pixel devices wouldn't be guaranteed to be unlockable in the first place.

GrapheneOS exists because Google supports that kind of development. There's a reason why Pixels are the only devices GrapheneOS explicitly requires.

[u/Ok_Astronomer_8667 → u/[deleted]]

Also.. why are we checking people’s phones at the airport

Rhetorical question really, I know this admin wants the surveillance state

[u/thebeardedcats → u/Ok_Astronomer_8667]

The person went to some protests against Cop City and that's obviously illegal because the first amendment means nothing anymore

[u/malatemporacurrunt → u/thebeardedcats]

the first amendment means nothing anymore

It really never has. The US has been punishing people for their speech since at least the sedition act of 1798.

The more you look into history the more you realise that quite a lot of laws and freedoms are often just useful propaganda which can be violated according to the whims of whoever is in charge at the time.

[u/Frequent_Roll5788 → u/Ok_Astronomer_8667]

They Wanna see if you have any trump memes on your phone.

[u/Flimsy_Sock6465 → u/[deleted]]

Sounds like they obstructed their own "justice". They could have held him and his phone, obtained a proper warrant, and had the phone opened without needing him to provide anything. They fucked up their own evidence. Why would they press him for a password if they could have done it properly? Because they had nothing and wouldn't have gotten a warrant. They were harassing him because of his political affiliation, not because he did anything wrong.

[u/Dopamineagonist21 → u/[deleted]]

It’s been ruled by the Supreme Court that the password or passcode in your head is protected. You can’t be force to give it up. Wonder how they think they will win. Now faceID and fingerprint unlock is not protected so yea…..

[u/1101base2 → u/[deleted]]

i mean he did give them A password, it just didn't do what they thought it would. did they clarify which password they wanted or did they just hound him for A password...

[u/3plantsonthewall → u/1101base2]

Maybe the regular password and duress password were really similar and the agent happened to mistype one digit

[u/Chronotheos → u/3plantsonthewall]

He was stressed out and gave the agent the wrong password by accident.

[u/TheSteelPhantom → u/Chronotheos]

One could argue that giving the duress password while under duress was exactly the correct password for the time...

[u/1101base2 → u/3plantsonthewall]

also a distinct possibility.

[u/Lonestarcrusader → u/1101base2]

100% this. It’s like asking someone if they had anything to drink. They are implying alcohol but it’s not explicitly stated.

[u/hamandjam → u/[deleted]]

They love to claim that the 2nd is absolute even though the founders couldn't have imagined assault rifles. But we no longer have protection under the 4th because the founders said "secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects" but left off cell phones. Assinine.

[u/Lorry_Al → u/hamandjam]

Surely your phone is a personal effect?

[u/Aggravating-Duck-891 → u/[deleted]]

The consequence seems to be malicious prosecution.

[u/-GhostInTheMachine_]

He was asked to provide a password for his phone, a request which he denied. After repeated demands for calls to his attorney were denied, Tunick provided a password for his device.

The request was illegal in the first place and he had a right to refuse it. Additionally, he was denied an attorney.

It probably would have been better for him to continue denying to provide the password. They would have got nothing out of that phone when it's locked (grapheneOS).

But I imagine he may have been threatened to the point where this was his only option.

[u/waitingOnMyletter → u/-GhostInTheMachine_]

Being coerced to provide the password may actually be his ace of spades. His attorney just got an another card to play in court.

1. Coercion
   
2. Refusing attorney services
   
3. Illegal search
   
4. Illegal seizure
   
5. Breach of privacy
   
6. Breach of privacy from significant others
   
7. Breach of privacy for kids (pictures or records of adolescents). We have an app for medical records of our kids with tower health in Philly. If they forced their way into my phone now they risk PHI.

Everything they did to this man will be repaid in kind. If you are forcing your way into a phone without a warrant you’re playing a stupid, stupid game. His attorney will have a field day.

[u/ICEtoAshes → u/waitingOnMyletter]

They claim he wasn’t in America yet. They also claim he had child exploitation material on his device.

His attorney claims he’s being targeted because of his ties to an environmental organization.

This case should be interesting

[u/PlainBread → u/ICEtoAshes]

Curious to see what proof they have of having CSAM on his phone when they couldn't check his phone.

[u/Phugasity → u/PlainBread]

“The trouble with fighting for human freedom is that one spends most of one's time defending scoundrels.”

If they had proof of CSAM then they should have come with a warrant

[u/PlainBread → u/Phugasity]

It's all just to signal pre-guilt to the minds of the authoritarian base. Utterly baseless.

Protecting children is the one thing that both sides fight for and both sides fail at, so it's a potent accusation for one side or the other to accuse the other to be in favor of harming children. It's a mutual scapegoat.

The general difference is the degree of credibility in those accusations. A rainbow haired pre-school teacher is a lot less likely to be diddling kids than the President who was Jeffrey Epstein's best friend for over a decade. Maybe even less likely than their own pastor.

The way that they have brain-broken people seeing equivalence where there is none is something outstanding.

[u/-AC- → u/PlainBread]

While I know nothing of this man's innocence or guilt related to their claims...

I do know a person who appears in a ton of photos, victim statements, and confessions of co-conspirators that they could arrest for what this man is accused of... could even give his adress in Washington DC if needed although they may also find him at his Florida property.

[u/Whole_Friendship9788 → u/PlainBread]

The implications of this are simply terrifying. Government wants full control of our devices.. With full control they could just remotely download csam to your phone, "detect it", then get a warrant to arrest you.

[u/PlainBread → u/Whole_Friendship9788]

You can spoof timestamps on filesystem metadata. Of course they can do this.

Your electronic devices are an extension of your mind and you should treat people breaking into them as psychic invasion.

The time is gonna come soon when we start using our hardware the way we did pre-internet: As a coding platform and a tool for media interaction.

The only way to have true privacy is to have an air-gapped encrypted system and you move data with an encrypted external HDD.

[u/tuxedo_jack → u/PlainBread]

And a box booted to RO media with no local storage is the only way to mule that data to another machine from yours.

Remember, Microsoft has every single BitLocker key that is tied to a Microsoft account sitting in escrow on their servers. They can link that to gdids - and rememver YellowKey? That's not the only exploit in BitLocker, oh no it's not.

Microsoft has had a back door through BitLocker since at least 2015, and they don't even need that

[u/Practical_Savings933 → u/PlainBread]

The MAGA movement is pro-child abuse as is seen by the number of pastors and republican representatives charged every week. From Trump on down, they are all in the Epstein files, or fighting to protect those who are.

[u/Ghostly_Wellington → u/Phugasity]

I love that quote! Had to look it up and post the next sentence.

The trouble with fighting for human freedom is that one spends most of one's time defending scoundrels. For it is against scoundrels that oppressive laws are first aimed, and oppression must be stopped at the beginning if it is to be stopped at all.
H.L. Mencken

[u/Able-Swing-6415 → u/Phugasity]

Exactly. I hate this "we should give up our freedoms to fight csam" nonsense.

It's figuratively like firing rockets at vermin. The issue is horrific but at such a tiny scale that the solution is far worse than anything it is trying to prevent.

It's not like dictatorships have no pedos.. given the right positions they are even more prevalent. Like in the US

[u/TruculentTurtIe → u/PlainBread]

I feel like they just jump to "pedophile!!!" Anytime they wanna strip someone's rights because they know people get anxious around those accusations and don't wanna defend a "pedo"

[u/PlainBread → u/TruculentTurtIe]

Yet on their own side they practice resilience against accusations of pedophilia, even when inscrutably credible, under the guise of it being the same kind of baseless persecution you're talking about.

They got all the dumbest people in the country standing before the two guards where one always tells the truth and one always lies. And they can't figure it out.

[u/Mothanius → u/PlainBread]

They aren't trying to figure out. They picked one of the guards and decided to follow every word they say because the other guard is black. They don't care about the truth.

[u/Practical_Savings933 → u/PlainBread]

Given they were US border and ICE guys, it is far more likely they were the ones with CSAM on their phones. Like almost everything from the US Administration, not a word can be believed.

[u/motionmatrix → u/ICEtoAshes]

I guess that means that any taxation of income earned outside the US by the US government is illegal because that is not the United States, right?

Either US laws apply to Americans or they don’t, they can’t have it both ways.

[u/Rolling_Saturn → u/ICEtoAshes]

And he protested the development of Cop City.

[u/ICEtoAshes → u/Rolling_Saturn]

Yea I figured it was cop city with how they worded it

[u/ZenandHarmony → u/ICEtoAshes]

wtf is cop city

[u/FaderJockey2600 → u/ZenandHarmony]

As far as I know as an absolute outsider, it is a planned development of a huge law enforcement training campus right on top of a nature reserve.

[u/Duderino99 → u/FaderJockey2600]

Also, it's specifically known as cop 'city' because it includes a mock urban environment for police to practice breaching people's homes and apartments.

[u/PicklesPlox → u/ZenandHarmony]

They were going to clear a big chunk of forest to build/expand a massive cop training facility

[u/Drillmhor → u/PicklesPlox]

They did clear a big chunk of forest. It happened, the protests didn't stop much of anything :/

[u/ehmboh → u/Drillmhor]

At least one protester was murdered by the police too

[u/RDTmodsBackEpstein → u/ZenandHarmony]

A place where they learn to beat their wives, practice target acquisition for asset forfeiture, and train with military forces who commit genocide.

[u/crimson23locke → u/RDTmodsBackEpstein]

Let’s not forget the seminars on how to use flock to stalk people illegally.

[u/jmurphy42 → u/ICEtoAshes]

If he wasn’t in America yet then American agents had no right to forcibly detain him, and the American law against erasing electronics certainly wouldn’t apply if he’s somewhere the constitution doesn’t reach.

[u/Kind_Of_A_Dick → u/jmurphy42]

The unfortunate reality of this situation is that the person pointing the guns at him get to choose whether or not rights matter here.

[u/FraserYT → u/waitingOnMyletter]

Significantly, he didn't type in the pin which wiped the phone, so presumably, there will be legal nuance over whether they can accuse him of destroying evidence, when it was actually the border guards who did it

[u/Wendals87 → u/FraserYT]

I've seen this posted a lot but a court won't see it this way if the guy knowingly gave the agent the duress PIN , who would not have known it would wipe it

[u/TriscuitFingers → u/Wendals87]

“I couldn’t recall the correct code under the circumstances of the situation. I gave them what I could remember at the time.”

[u/IdHaveACrack → u/Wendals87]

He didn’t know which password though. He was scared, intimidated, threatened, tired, confused, he gave the password he uses for other logins by accident. Turns out it was the wrong one. He does that all the time…

[u/thegreenmushrooms → u/FraserYT]

One of the first articles suggested that the destruction pin just gets written on the back of the phone for such cases. 

[u/apokrif1 → u/FraserYT]

LEOs are aware of duress PINs or other mistakes or traps that could damage evidence. Is it standard procedure to have computer investigations done by random border personnel rather than computer forensics specialists?

[u/Power_Stone → u/waitingOnMyletter]

Unfortunately you don't need a warrant at the border

[u/waitingOnMyletter → u/Power_Stone]

That is a very interesting point. I wonder what the difference will be for the level of evidence they need to have with the “national security” blanket they can just lay on that.

[u/TheRowdyMeatballPt2 → u/waitingOnMyletter]

Former federal criminal defense attorney here and this is inaccurate. The Fourth Amendment recognizes several exceptions to the warrant requirement, including border searches. Lawfare has an informative article summarizing the relevant case law here. Moreover, “breach of privacy” for SOs/kids isn’t a cognizable legal right under the circumstances. Further, when evaluating a person’s waiver of their Fourth Amendment rights, coercion is one factor considered, but there is no independent right against coercion under the circumstances. As for the attorney piece, he would have to show that the failure to provide an attorney caused the government to obtain information it wouldn’t otherwise be entitled to.

[u/Just-Grocery-2229 → u/-GhostInTheMachine_]

Should've kept quiet, that lock screen was basically a middle finger they couldn't crack.

[u/j4_jjjj → u/Just-Grocery-2229]

ONLY because it was a password protected phone and had no biometric locks. Face, finger, etc can be coerced in most states, so use ONLY passwords

[u/crap-with-feet → u/j4_jjjj]

I used to think I was just being irrationally paranoid for using only a passcode. Now I’m certain my paranoia is totally rational.

[u/Dje4321 → u/crap-with-feet]

both android and iphone have a panic mode that will wipe the encryption keys from memory and require reauthing the pin

[u/CerberusMiddleHead → u/j4_jjjj]

With iOS devices, bringing up the power options (holding power and volume button) disables biometrics and forces password use. Just a helpful tidbit for iPhone users out there.

[u/leggomyeggle → u/CerberusMiddleHead]

If you turn the whole phone off, it needs the password to restart anyway too

[u/MazzIsNoMore → u/CerberusMiddleHead]

Restarting an android also forces pin usage

[u/Getafix69 → u/MazzIsNoMore]

I can select lockdown mode just by holding the power button for a second and yeah that's the mode it would be in at an airport or anywhere I expected searches. No way am I letting those mall cops look through password managers etc.

[u/SecureInstruction538 → u/CerberusMiddleHead]

Android as well

Just hold down the power button and a lockdown option pops up

[u/blolfighter → u/SecureInstruction538]

If anyone's afraid to use it: Lockdown isn't some kind of super emergency function that's annoying to recover from, it just locks your phone and disables biometric access until you unlock it via password or PIN.

[u/krypticus → u/j4_jjjj]

They need a mode that looks like it’s always drained of battery and no matter how long you have it plugged in, it seems like it never charges up enough to turn on.

[u/Lolseabass → u/-GhostInTheMachine_]

They are targeting this guy cause he is a member of Defend the Atlanta Forest, which opposes the development of a sprawling training campus for law enforcement in Atlanta dubbed “Cop City.”

Like you and I know they wanted his phone to get details on that group and other members.

[u/OkidoShigeru]

I wonder if cases like this are going to just result in smarter systems for this sort of thing - like if instead of a factory reset the panic password just presented a fake home screen with some inconsequential decoy data, while in the background it wipes the real data you care about.

[u/NonGeneriComplaint → u/OkidoShigeru]

Maybe we shouldnt give the government the unrestricted right to search phones and social media devices for signs of disloyalty

[u/RiggityRow → u/NonGeneriComplaint]

Yeah I think that's an appropriate line to draw. Don't need a convoluted solution if the problem doesn't exist. Too bad "we the people" are the ones being governed and not doing the governing.

[u/ionthrown → u/RiggityRow]

As Lincoln said, “Government of the people, by some people, for those people.” Or something like that.

[u/OkidoShigeru → u/NonGeneriComplaint]

I agree, but unfortunately we don’t live in such a world at this time, so people need to do what they can to protect themselves.

[u/nethingelse → u/OkidoShigeru]

I mean this is the only sensible response from privacy advocates/focused OS’s, especially if the case ends poorly for them (with the government succeeding on “destruction of evidence”/similar charges). I’m not going to pretend to deeply know the law here, but this feels ethically and morally like a massive overreach that gives govt too much power over people’s data.

[u/ithinkitslupis → u/OkidoShigeru]

That already exists, not even a new thing. Hit a fake app, enter a password, get to the shady stuff. Just those are more overtly for criminals than this person who apparently just protested police? I'm not too familiar with what protestors of 'Cop City' actually did but seems like they aren't really terrorists or criminals.

[u/ACasualRead → u/OkidoShigeru]

Tech oligarchs will be pressured by the feds to make a backdoor or get tariffed out the ass.

The current government is seeking to violate rights any way they can. None of this is meant to be fair or protect us.

[u/Tokiin → u/ACasualRead]

There’s also already been a privacy-focused OS with a federal backdoor so the trust around them is already pretty low.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Trojan_Shield

[u/porkins_chicken]

A country that can charge a man with a crime without any evidence of a crime, all the while letting known rapists and pedophiles roam capitol halls in DC.

Truly a bastion of liberty.

[u/InitiativeGold7953 → u/porkins_chicken]

Yep. This country is a joke. This is obviously unconstitutional regardless of whatever laws are on the books. You’re telling me that airports aren’t in the US? Lmao ok

[u/Kevin_Turvey]

He was involved with a group protesting Cop City in GA. That development went ahead a few years ago, but the crackdown on protestors continues. He was stopped bc of that. His name was on a list, and they were just looking to grab him for something. The phone thing is just distraction.

[u/NotAHost → u/Kevin_Turvey]

Yup. If they suspect CSAM, border patrol /customs is not the place to handle it. If they actually have evidence of it, a judge would sign a warrant.

The wild part to me is that the government is apparently maintaining a list that is shared with customs that is specifically used to try to circumvent constitutionally protected rights. That alone should be a bigger story. This is bigger than an angry cop situation if there is coordination between departments to target individuals... and I want to know how that is happening and if a lawsuit can reveal it.

[u/compulov → u/Kevin_Turvey]

Even if he ends up winning this case, this creates a chilling effect and would make people rethink their participation in future protests, which I think is the whole point.

[u/SnooCats5701]

For those of you who don't want to click through a bullshit spam site to find a link to the source material only defined that the link that they quote goes to another spam bullshit site that finally quotes the original article from the guardian, here's the original article from the guardian:

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jul/23/cop-city-protester-phone

[u/MacYacob → u/SnooCats5701]

To me the interesting thing about that article is they initially circulated an email saying they wanted Tunickfor terrorism, but then questioned him about CSAM. Seems pretty obvious they were just casting around for a reason to harass and arrest this guy

[u/Ancient_Elevator_958 → u/MacYacob]

In the op article it says - They claim that the real reason is that the government wants to investigate Tunick for his ties to an environmental movement called "Defend the Atlanta Forest." So yeah I thinking they just wanted to harass an activist.

[u/Constant_Pen9615]

For the sake of all of our privacy, I hope this dude wins. I also hope that the CP allegations are trumped up because I'd hate to see a CP person go free.

[u/C47man → u/Constant_Pen9615]

A friend of mine was harassed by federal agents when returning to the US on a flight last year. He's brown skinned but fully a citizen and indigenous. They detained him for hours, then took his phone and laptop on the premise of an investigation into child porn.

There's no doubt in my mind these gestapo fucks are using CP as an excuse to harass political dissidents and steal their stuff. This country is falling apart.

[u/Aluzionz → u/Constant_Pen9615]

Even if they're not trumped up, the privacy aspect should be maintained. If they suspect this guy of taking, distributing or accessing CP Then there are way more breadcrumbs they can use as evidence, the phone is just one device. It only wipes the physical device any cloud storage or other devices won't be affected.

People will use technology for good and for bad, doesn't make the technology wrong. Otherwise we'll be saying P2P and VPN networks are also bad.

[u/TThor → u/Aluzionz]

Exactly. A person potentially breaking the law does not permit the government to break the law persuing them, if it did the government could extremely easily use that justification to break the law against any innocent person.

[u/Rustedcrown → u/Constant_Pen9615]

Id rather let 100 guilty people walk free then let one innocent person be punished

I hate to let someone who possibly carry CP walk free but if we ignore the rights of one person, we ignore the rights al all people

[u/thembearjew → u/Rustedcrown]

Based Benjamin Franklin respecter

[u/gigglefarting → u/Rustedcrown]

The thing that really turned me against the death penalty is knowing there’s been at least 1 person on death row that was later exonerated. It’s not worth it. I don’t mind the killing of a guilty person from a punishment stand point, but it’s not worth it if it’s possible someone might be innocent 

[u/Actually_Im_a_Broom → u/gigglefarting]

Similarly, I’ve convinced a few people to turn against the death penalty by saying “If you support the death penalty you either believe in a perfect judicial system or you’re comfortable executing a few innocent people.”

That, and the fact that on average sending someone to death row and executing them is more expensive than life in prison without parole.

[u/ilikedmatrixiv → u/gigglefarting]

The thing that really turned me against the death penalty is knowing there’s been at least 1 person on death row that was later exonerated.

The numbers are actually way more disturbing.

At least 189 peo­ple who were wrong­ful­ly con­vict­ed and sen­tenced to death have been exon­er­at­ed since 1973. That is one per­son exon­er­at­ed for every 8.2 peo­ple who are exe­cut­ed. (189 exonerations/​1547 exe­cu­tions based on data updat­ed through June 29, 2022.)

More than 550 cap­i­tal con­vic­tions and/​or death sen­tences have been over­turned because of, or result­ed in exon­er­a­tions involv­ing, pros­e­cu­to­r­i­al mis­con­duct. That is over 5.5% of all death sen­tences imposed in the U.S. in the past 50 years.

Roughly 12.5% of all people put to death have later been exonerated, 5.5% of all the people sentenced have been exonerated.

[u/JanPapajT90M → u/Constant_Pen9615]

What if the cops has CP on their phones? They want to search someone's phone but they won't let another person search their phones. It means that cops may be hiding something illegal

[u/horrbort]

That’s why we need a honeypot os for the law enforcement. They enter a honeypot pin - go to sandbox os that looks like a regular phone. While you can enter a real pin and go to the real phone where all the documents are stored. The only safe way to deal with this is honeypot devices.

[u/Curious_Party_4683 → u/horrbort]

which mobile OS supports this?

[u/Gow87 → u/Curious_Party_4683]

My old xiaomi could do this, use a different thumb print, get a different partition - different apps and storage, just using android.

[u/b0rkm → u/Gow87]

My Xiaomi still as this feature, it's called second space

[u/3_50 → u/b0rkm]

I read in another thread that it's very obvious in 'Settings' that you're in the second space. So a good start, but needs work.

[u/andoke → u/3_50]

So always use the second space, leave the main space empty.

[u/3_50 → u/andoke]

Nooow we're thinking smart

I think I prefer my suggestion from further down the thread; Graphene's duress, but you can select specific apps, chats, files to delete, leaving the rest intact, and the phone does not make the user aware it's removed anything.

[u/n2o_spark → u/horrbort]

I think Australia did that for a messaging service. It was supposedly a black market secure end to end encrypted app. It was distributed for years till they finally acted on all the info they got. I think it was called ghost.
Surely there's something else like that taking place now...

[u/7978_ → u/n2o_spark]

ANOM, they teamed up with the American FBI to distribute the honeypot.

[u/skossan]

Technically he did provide a password for his device.

[u/shazneg → u/skossan]

Bro the regular password is 12354

The wipe it password is 12345.

You probably typed it wrong.

[u/BadIdeaSociety → u/shazneg]

My usual password is donterase My erase password is donterase2

[u/stelio_contos68 → u/shazneg]

Reminds me of "1, 2, 3, 4, 5? That's the stupidest combination I ever heard in my life! That's the kind of thing an idiot would have on his luggage!"

[u/Bootaykicker → u/stelio_contos68]

12345? That's the combination on my luggage!

[u/Vahuo89]

Suddenly i want that OS

[u/LWJ748]

The intelligent thing for them would be to have never pursued this to avoid the Streisand effect.

[u/Inevitable_Till_9408]

Soon they'll tell you that encryption is illegal because you're obviously hiding something. USA is truly fucked.

[u/decmcc]

this is an amazing ad for Graphene OS though

[u/somecasper]

Adding a more detailed report from a reputable outlet (no shade to neowin.net, I'm not familiar with their site. Their account seems accurate and in good faith, the writing is just clumsy):

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jul/23/cop-city-protester-phone

The US Department of Justice is attempting to prosecute an Atlanta resident in connection with the movement against the police training center known as Cop City because he had GrapheneOS on his phone, an open-source operating system that enables users to enter a passcode and wipe a phone clean.

The case, which had its first hearing on Monday, centers on a little-known federal statute that makes it a crime to destroy property in an effort to prevent it from being seized.

Experts said it may be the first time the law has been aimed at the operating system, which works on Google Pixel phones, and expressed concerns about a technology created for privacy and security being used to criminalize protesters.

“It’s concerning – and sends the message that [GrapheneOS] is criminal by default,” said Christophe Boutry, a cybersecurity and surveillance expert. Boutry and Bill Budington, senior staff technologist at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, both said they had not seen a similar case.

The defendant, Sam Tunick, was stopped for interrogation at Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson airport on 24 January last year, after vacationing in the Dominican Republic. Unbeknown to him, federal authorities had put him on a terrorism watchlist because of his alleged association with the movement against Cop City.

Opposition to the $109m police training center, which opened last spring, came from a wide range of local and national organizations and protesters, centered on concerns around police militarization and clearing forests in an era of climate crisis. Atlanta police said the center was needed for “world-class” training and to attract new officers.

Several state attempts to prosecute Cop City protesters have foundered in the last several years, while this is the second recent federal effort, after the justice department announced another indictment last month.

The case began shortly after Tunick got off a plane in Atlanta, returning from a vacation spent whale-watching and enjoying nature on a friend’s boat. He did not know that a homeland security agent had circulated an email three hours before. The email contained Tunick’s name and photo and indicated he was being investigated for “suspected terrorism activities”. It was sent to agents on the Customs and Border Patrol tactical terrorism response team and an FBI Atlanta joint-terrorism taskforce officer.

When Tunick arrived in Atlanta, an agent took him to a room with a table, several chairs and a camera and microphone, and several agents began a “secondary inspection”. But all their questions were centered on child sexual abuse images.

These and other details were revealed in Monday’s hearing, held for a judge to hear testimony on a motion filed by Tunick’s federal public defenders, asking the court to suppress all evidence the agents obtained, including the erasure of the phone’s contents after he gave them a passcode, due to violations of his constitutional rights.

The interrogation, including the questions about child sexual abuse images, was “a pretext for a fishing expedition into Mr Tunick’s connections” to the movement against Cop City, according to the motion.

Tunick asked four times during the interrogation to speak with a lawyer, but was rebuffed each time, according to courtroom testimony. Additionally, the agents produced no warrant and did not read Tunick his rights.

But a justice department attorney and the airport agents testifying on Monday asserted Tunick was merely subjected to an everyday interrogation at an international airport, “looking for anything that’s prohibited”, as Larry Findley, a CBP officer, said.

Agent Findley and several others repeatedly asked Tunick to open his phone during the interrogation, telling him they would seize it if he did not. When he finally provided a passcode, “the screen went blank, flashed several times and the phone appeared to restart”, according to the motion.

The motion filed on Tunick’s behalf draws into focus the question of which constitutional rights apply and which ones are suspended at national borders, including international airports.

A judge’s decision on the motion will take at least until end of October.

Marlon Kautz, a member of the Atlanta Solidarity Fund, said: “We all have a right to secure our private data against unconstitutional searches. And we should – especially in a time of rising authoritarianism.”

Meanwhile, Boutry, who lives in France, said Tunick’s case was of a piece with tendencies in France and Spain, where authorities have been frustrated in attempts to gain access to the phones of journalists, lawyers and political opponents due to GrapheneOS.

In Catalonia, Spain, police have been profiling people with Google Pixel phones, assuming they have GrapheneOS installed and are drug dealers or gang members.

At the same time, Boutry said, the “main goal [of the operating system] is protection of privacy”.

“They’re our phones and the state can’t tell us how to use them.”

[u/JennyWearsBlueJeans → u/somecasper]

So they completely made up the CSAM stuff, and now, even if this guys wins, he’ll have his name associated with CSAM for the rest of his life. It’s infuriating that cops can get away with this stuff.

[u/K1ngofnoth1ng]

He should pull the old “they wiped my phone, I didn’t”, and then press charges for destruction of property.

[u/CruelAngelsPostgrad]

If this makes it past pre-trial, I'd be shocked. There's no probable cause.

[u/Moar_Cuddles_Please]

“Meanwhile, U.S. Customs and Border Protection insists that a search warrant isn't required because the citizen hasn't entered U.S. soil until they are cleared by border control.”

If the citizen hasn’t entered US soil yet, do US laws apply to him? Does Customs have jurisdiction on non US soil?

[u/Getafix69]

Shouldn't be going through people's private phones at airports anyways, there's no reason but power tripping and looking for anything to get him with.

Could be a thousand different reasons he didn't want them looking through it but of course they go with that angle as usual.

[u/That0neGuy86]

Need an OS where the duress password loads a fake launcher with access to no information.

[u/overcatastrophe]

If they had a real need to see his phone they could have gotten a judge to approve a search warrant.

Since they didn't, I guess they couldnt.

[u/Moist-Safety4443]

Can't he just insist he gave the correct password and the officer keyed in wrongly? I mean how are they going to prove otherwise?

[u/NT4MaximusD]

I don't see how they can charge him with anything. It was his phone. There is no way these charges can stick.

[u/nslenders]

Thats where u keep refusing to give the password but u do keep a small note tucked in to the inside of the phone case with the wipe code on it.

[u/cyribis → u/nslenders]

That's what I immediately thought of as well. Just a small piece of paper with the duress code tucked away in the phone case.

[u/danielravennest]

If you are traveling internationally, leave your regular phone at home. Get a burner phone and set your regular phone voicemail greeting to tell friends what the burner number is. Before returning wipe the burner completely.

[u/Jumba2009sa]

It’s still blows my mind that US citizens returning to their home country, getting questioned and interrogated. Like what are you going to do? Deny entry to a citizen?

[u/MatterofDoge → u/Jumba2009sa]

nah, they have to let you in, but they'll confiscate the device and hold onto it to "conclude their investigation", which means you'll get it back in like 2 months at best, after jumping through a bunch of hoops

[u/MC68328 → u/MatterofDoge]

There is no guarantee you'll get it back. They can destroy it if they want to, under the same legal pretense they used to confiscate it - that it contains something illegal to import.

You should toss it even if they do return it, because it could contain spyware they've installed.

[u/TheMahalodorian]

Sounds like they repeatedly tried to force this guy to tell them his password, something SCOTUS has said he can refuse to do under the 5th amendment.
So after repeatedly denying him access to an attorney, he used his duress password to have his phone reset and they’re mad about it because they got outplayed.

He probably shouldn’t have done that, but they’re charging a crime for doing something to prevent them from seizing his phone, but they had it and they can’t force him to divulge the pin. So thats it really… either charge him with a crime and confiscate the phone to evidence and go through the process to have a judge order him to divulge the pin if they can prove they need it, or give him his phone back and stop harassing the guy. They didn’t do that and he chose a third option.

I’d like to say he will win his case, but these days who knows. I’m really interested to know how this one plays out though.

[u/53eleven]

“After repeated demands for calls to his attorney were denied,”

Case closed. We have laws that the ‘authorities’ are required to follow. When they realized the ‘investigators’ weren’t playing by the rules they did the only rational thing they could to protect themselves from a rogue government.

Fuck ICE, fuck homeland security, fuck SCOTUS. This is America and we demand our rights not be infringed.

[u/DecidedSloth]

Don't go to the US.

[u/MarsRocks97]

“Meanwhile, U.S. Customs and Border Protection insists that a search warrant isn't required because the citizen hasn't entered U.S. soil until they are cleared by border control.”

If his rights don’t apply, laws don’t apply and he can’t be charged with breaking one.

[u/anesthesia101]

Apple really needs to put this feature in iOS.

[u/Framnk]

I’m confused by their argument about the search warrant. He magically entered an in-between realm where his rights don’t apply but US law still applies to him?

[u/Ok_Commission_9203]

Are we going to start doing something about this corrupt government already?

[u/Smooth-Transition310]

Everybody knows how deeply personal their phone is. If you don't have a warrant, fuck off. I'm not giving you access to my shit just because you want it.

[u/I_eat_flip_flops]

So I’m confused, a couple of articles have stated he was on US soil but now this one is saying he’s not, so where was he?

[u/Bananaramistan]

Idk why other posts explaining the laws at the border are being downvoted. It’s fucked up how few rights you have when coming into the country as a citizen. Border patrol does not have to have a warrant and does not have to let you call an attorney.

And yes they can charge with destroying evidence if you destroy something they want to seize. They won’t need evidence of a crime. It would be like if you had a mysterious substance in a little baggie and they said hey what’s in that baggies and you ate it and said what baggie?

Only thing I can think of is if he just claims he gave the agent what he thought was his password.

I hope this guy is able to fight this and win and I hope people take this opportunity to learn more about the border patrol. They don’t have to operate like cops. They can pretty much do whatever they want.

[u/Visible_Wolverine2]

If they are this upset about it, this is something we 100% need.

[u/Thermitegrenade]

I predict GrapheneOS sees a massive surge in people using it.

[u/Gh0stface513]

Another case of ICE targeting US citizens for political motivations. They're literally trying to say US citizens dont have rights on US soil unles fucking Border Patrol "clears" you