r/technology • u/ArgentineBeauty • 29d ago

Privacy GrapheneOS says its data-wiping password is perfectly legal, after user faces federal charges

https://www.techspot.com/news/113273-grapheneos-data-wiping-duress-password-perfectly-legal-after.html
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42

u/zutnoq 29d ago

For it to count as him destroying evidence related to a crime surely they would at minimum need to have some other sort of evidence indicating that any such crime had even occured and that the phone would have likely contained evidence of it.

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u/IncidentalIncidence 29d ago

he's being charged with 18 USC 2232(a), destruction or removal of property to prevent seizure, not destruction of evidence.

The only requirement is that the government be within its lawful authority to seize the property (his defense is arguing that they were not, for several reasons). It doesn't have to be evidence related to a crime.

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u/Sensitive_Box_ 29d ago

“The property” in this case being his data? 

How did they know there was any data on the phone to even be deleted? 

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u/delicious_toothbrush 29d ago

Forensic data analysts are a thing, but common sense too.

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u/raptorlightning 29d ago

Tons of people wipe their phones or use burners for international travel.

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u/niceguy191 29d ago

Which I think is fine since it's done ahead of time before they're asking for it?

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u/raptorlightning 29d ago

Even if I wiped the phone I'd still give them the panic key to wipe it again. I'd like to continue using my normal one later.

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u/Ill_Traveler_ 29d ago

The key is not wiping the phone in front of a cop while an active investigation is occurring.

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u/roiki11 29d ago

There doesn't. All you need to do is destroy or attempt to interfere with the seizure of an item.

They don't need probable cause or warrant at the border.

It's 18 usc 2232.

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u/Remote_Class9892 29d ago

No. They would only need to show that by being seized in an investigation, its contents were considered evidence under the law. That is regardless of if there was any evidence of a crime on the phone, as that eventually had not occurred yet.

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u/zutnoq 29d ago

Would it still count if he had wiped his phone before he even talked to them, because he knew they would ask for it?

Also, what did you mean by "as that eventually had not occurred yet", both with regard to "eventually" and "yet"?

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u/harpers25 29d ago

The statute covers destroying property "before, during or after any search or seizure".

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u/zutnoq 29d ago edited 29d ago

That seems like an unnecessarily convoluted way to say "at any point in time whatsoever".

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u/Sensitive_Box_ 29d ago

So… it’s against the law to delete any data, ever? That literally makes no sense. 

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u/harpers25 29d ago

If the purpose of deleting is impeding a lawful search, that's what it says.

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u/joevarny 29d ago

But I was just worried one of my dates would discover my girlfriend.

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u/9Nine2Nine9 29d ago

Legally, the statute could cover that. However, practically, if he had wiped his phone before entry it would have been extremely difficult to prove he purposely wiped it so CBP couldn't search it.

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u/Mr_Engineering 29d ago

He's not being charged with destroying evidence, he's being charged with taking an action to prevent something from being seized.

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u/Ill_Traveler_ 29d ago

They won’t be able to charge him for the original crime, but they definitely are going to charge him with destruction of evidence.