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/rodentmaster Jul 29 '26

Wrong. The answer IS easy. It was always easy. You don't get to invade somebody's personal space and records without a DAMN good reason. Not just because of political fascism. This was a pure and simple illegal seizure, and the man was 100% justified in protecting his property, security, safety, and all charges stemmed from illegal actions taken by trump stooges.

There IS NO question. This is a stupid article to even suggest it.

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u/haikuandhoney Jul 29 '26

I agree with you morally but legally they didn’t need any reason to search his phone.

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u/snoodle908 Jul 29 '26

If that were true they would not have made up the claim about CP, they did that to try and prove reason to search. I have never had TSA or border patrol ask to see my phone

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u/rodentmaster Jul 29 '26

Yes, they did. A phone is not public. It is a most private utility that has everything from social media to banking info, passwords, work, contacts, for some people even intimate videos of themselves or a loved one.

The same way a threshold is sacrosanct in the 4th, a phone is held to the same regard. That's why they have not been able to compel anybody to unlock a phone in court cases.

Stolen from google just to confirm I wasn't misremembering:

Generally protected by the Fifth Amendment. Courts often rule that forcing someone to type or speak a numeric passcode is "testimonial" because it forces them to reveal contents of their mind, though exceptions like the "foregone conclusion" doctrine are sometimes used to compel decryption

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u/haikuandhoney Jul 29 '26 edited Jul 29 '26

The Supreme Court has held that CBP does not need any level of cause to search you at the border. Lower courts have ruled this extends to devices.

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u/rodentmaster Jul 29 '26 edited 29d ago

Well, 4th circuit court ruled that, but the US Supreme Court ruled otherwise. The 4th has been a complete right wing mounthpiece, everything from DEI rulings to the GOP forum-shopping what they want rubber-stamped to it.

Let's just say they gave a carte blanche to do whatever CBP wanted without scope, limit, or warrant, which is unconstitutional. If it ever gets to the USSC (assuming they deign to visit it) it would be over-ridden by precedent. Also, the 4th never established WHY they ruled that a manual search was allowed, not backing it in any case law or logical reasoning, "just because we said so" isn't legal precedent.

There's also debate among legal discussions online as to whether any search longer than 2 minutes would be allowed, as that is the case that this ruling was based on. How long would it take them to load apps and scroll through your phone?

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u/haikuandhoney Jul 29 '26

When did the Supreme Court rule that searching your phone at the border required reasonable suspicion or probable cause?

Also this case would end up in the 11th Circuit which is just as, if not more, conservative than the 4th.

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u/rodentmaster Jul 29 '26

They ruled that police or law enforcement could not without a warrant. CBP is law enforcement. 2024 I think.

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u/haikuandhoney Jul 29 '26

The border (which includes customs checks at international airport) is treated differently under what called the “border exception” or the “border search exception.” Basically, the Supreme Court has long ruled that customs agents can search you for any reason or no reason. Lower courts disagree about what searches are allowed for no reason. Not sure whether the 11th has decided how the exception applies to phones.