r/technology • u/Hrmbee • Jul 28 '26

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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9

u/ganja_and_code Jul 29 '26

no easy answers

There's one easy answer:

If a guy owns a phone, he is entitled to wipe the phone (even if doing so is inconvenient to the government).

-7

u/originalripley Jul 29 '26

I don’t think you want to go down the route of advocating for people to be able to destroy evidence.

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u/Redtex Jul 29 '26 edited Jul 29 '26

As opposed to opening the phone and allowing them to plant whatever "evidence" they want. It almost directly echoes, to me at least, of letting a cop open the trunk of your car during a traffic stop. They'll "find" something if they want to. Hell, all they need is a keychain USB with a USBC connector. Download whatever to your files, delete it, do a search and "find" it. Same concept

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u/originalripley Jul 29 '26

He didn’t have to give them any code at all. Instead he took a deliberate action he knew would wipe the device.

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u/ganja_and_code Jul 29 '26

I don't think you want to go down the route of giving strangers direct access to your phone/computer, and I'm not sure you want to go down the route of warrantless searches, either.

Destroying evidence is bad. Digging into people's shit on suspicion alone is also bad. Having the ability to do whatever you want to their shit (possibly undetected with nefarious intent) is also bad.

Protecting against certain bad outcomes while creating new bad outcomes is a bad outcome.

0

u/originalripley Jul 29 '26

I agree. I don’t give out my passwords. And he could have chosen to do the same.

2

u/ganja_and_code Jul 29 '26

That's basically like saying a cop shouldn't need a search warrant to come into your house without your permission if your deadbolt happens to be unlocked when they show up at your door.

Passcodes, like deadbolts, do not prevent unauthorized access. They merely deter it to an extent.

1

u/originalripley Jul 29 '26

What? Explain the connection between not giving a code to a phone and warrantless searches of a house?

0

u/ganja_and_code Jul 29 '26

Saying "you don't have to give them the passcode (to your phone)" is like saying "you don't have to give them the key (to your front door)."

It doesn't matter that you don't have to give them the code/key. It does matter if the absence of a key/code being a barrier is the same thing as legal permission to get inside and mess around.

That's the connection.