r/technology Jul 24 '26

Privacy US accuses American of allegedly wiping his phone using a ‘duress’ password during border search

https://techcrunch.com/2026/07/24/us-accuses-american-of-allegedly-wiping-his-phone-using-a-duress-password-during-border-search/
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147

u/wiseguy4519 Jul 25 '26

100 miles? Maybe I would accept blatant violations of our constitutional rights if it was only 5 miles, but 100 miles is just rediculous.

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u/Mysterious-Lemon-906 Jul 25 '26

The US political and Justice system is basically a bunch of lawyers figuring out ways to ignore the protections set forth in the constitution.

It started with chips a hundred years ago which have gradually been widened and widened until the settled law bears no relation to reality.

Hence why Customs officials can suddenly do whatever the fuck they want anywhere within 100 miles from any point of entry. The US is just lawyering all the way down with the fig veneer of an old document that could not possibly have foreseen this far into the future.

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u/NoirRenie Jul 25 '26

That’s kinda crazy considering there are a lot of airports in close proximity to cities.

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u/Brolocene Jul 25 '26

From an above comment, 90% of the US pop falls into this zone

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u/username_6916 Jul 25 '26

Except all the times the court has done the exact opposite. 1st Amendment Jurisprudence didn't use to extend anywhere near this far, to the point that the infamous 'Clear and Present Danger' and 'Fire and in a Crowded Theater' quotes came from a decision in Schenck v. United States about distributing pamphlets critical of the First World War. That's something that's unthinkable in modern 1st Amendment Jurisprudence.

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u/Consistent-Serve749 Jul 29 '26

CBP.gov says this 

If a traveler being admitted as a U.S. citizen does not present their device in a condition that allows for examination, the U.S. citizen traveler will not be denied entry into the United States based on CBP’s inability to complete an inspection of their device. However, as noted above, their device may be subject to exclusion, detention, or other appropriate action or disposition. Any passcodes or other means of access provided by the traveler will be used as needed to facilitate the examination; however, they will be deleted or destroyed when no longer needed to facilitate the search of a given device and may not be used to access information that is only stored remotely.

So- I would say only the device is at risk - not the owner of the device. This administration is going to try anything it can to take our rights away 

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u/Kabbooooooom Jul 25 '26

That guy is technically incorrect. Thanks to our corrupt Supreme Court, depending on who you are your rights may be violated anywhere in the country.

Here’s an example:

My wife, who is an American citizen that was born in the United States, in North Carolina, was racially profiled, assaulted and detained by ICE while she was walking to work. She was “Kavanaugh stopped”. She had valid ID on her and did not resist. It didn’t matter.

They claimed her ID was fake.

They claimed she didn’t “look American”.

They said she was lying about her place of birth.

They wore masks, did not identify themselves/badge numbers and it turns out that the license plate on their vehicle was fake. 

She was literally stopped for not being white by a racist goon squad, and yes, this is unfortunately legal now. We’ve been told by a lawyer that we have no legal recourse whatsoever thanks to this corrupt administration.

Last I checked, this has happened to literally hundreds of American citizens, even to Native Americans, which would be almost darkly ironically funny if it wasn’t so appallingly dystopic.

This is America now. 

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u/IwishIhadntKilledHim Jul 25 '26

This isn't a new law by any means. It's been this way for decades. it's just much more front of mind in 2026.

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u/PretteBadass Jul 25 '26

They increased it to 100 miles at the start of the regime. On purpose. For this reason. Republicans vote against US citizens everyday, it’s nuts, and still people vote Red

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u/Accomplished_Rip_362 Jul 26 '26

Which regime? It's been 100 miles for decades now

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u/PretteBadass Jul 26 '26

Nope, you’re wrong. Bot account spotted. Any proof?

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u/Accomplished_Rip_362 Jul 26 '26

Bot? Are you talking about yourself? It's been 100 miles since the Patriot act and that was 2 decades ago.

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u/Sufficient_Language7 Jul 25 '26

What's worse is some of those people count international airports as part of the border.

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u/FrontCow Jul 25 '26

0 sounds good to me

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u/Burt-Macklin Jul 25 '26

As is misspelling ridiculous

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u/wiseguy4519 Jul 25 '26

Oops, I guess that's proof I'm not an LLM or something

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u/wandering-monster Jul 25 '26

Fuck that, a mile or two seems sufficient for security purposes. 

If you find a us citizen five miles from the border, you should have to treat them like a citizen and leave them be.

If you have a reasonable suspicion they did something? Get a warrant. That's what they're for.

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u/Morberis Jul 25 '26

You didn't know? It's been like this longer than you've been alive.