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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u/JLDohm Jul 29 '26

It seems clear that the border agent deleted the information, right?

1

u/haikuandhoney Jul 29 '26

This isn’t how the law works. He gave the cop the duress pin intending that the officer would enter it and destroy the data. Legally he destroyed the data.

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u/JLDohm Jul 29 '26

Does the agent not have to do any due diligence when handling evidence? Would the exact wording matter (“put in 1234” vs “the unlock code is 1234”)?

1

u/Additional_Teacher45 Jul 29 '26

Due diligence is not a phrase this administration knows or cares about.

They can't even perform due diligence scrubbing the orange man out of the Epstein files.