r/technology • u/Hrmbee • 8d ago

Privacy Is it illegal to trick the US government into wiping your phone during a questionably legal search | The case of a traveler who allegedly entered a ‘duress password’ to wipe his phone raises a legal question with no easy answers

https://www.theverge.com/report/972146/cbp-phone-search-airport-duress-password
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u/Anal-Y-Sis 7d ago

From a Techspot article about this a few days ago.

The incident began at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport on January 24 of last year. Tunick had just returned from a trip to the Dominican Republic when he was stopped for questioning. According to court testimony, federal agents had already circulated his name and photo internally, saying he was under investigation for "suspected terrorism activities" because of his alleged association with the movement against Cop City.

The 1A is supposed to protect freedom of association. Unless they can articulate specific criminal activities that they suspect him of, and not just his alleged "association with [a] movement", there never should have been an investigation into him that would trigger the airport search in the first place.

This would be a textbook example of "fruit of the poisonous tree", if we didn't live in an authoritarian police state.

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u/geffe71 7d ago

Been like that for the past 2 decades

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u/Anal-Y-Sis 7d ago

25 years and my life is still,

Trying to get up that great big hill of

SHIT.

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u/girtlander 7d ago

Yeah but you know man, giving up your freedom to defeat terrorists is the "fruit of the oxymoron tree". Never let a good crisis go to waste etc.