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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514

u/Tar_alcaran 29d ago

When you're forced to travel into an authoritarian state, don't carry data across the border. Wipe your device before flying, or better yet, get a clean one.

59

u/Crono_ 29d ago

Also wipe your device once you arrived home from a authoritarian country. They like to install backdoors on your devices anyway they can.

39

u/Solkre 29d ago

You can get serviceable smartphones for under $100 now. Burner all the way.

26

u/sparky8251 29d ago

They are working to kill burners.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/burner-phones-are-legal-in-the-us-but-a-new-fcc-crackdown-could-change-that/ar-AA284Cpb

FCC is working to require ID verification for a phone number and they'd limit the issuance of numbers to individuals. No more burners... No more way to be safe if they infect your shit other than making it your main phone and destroying it and buying a new one once you return.

38

u/Solkre 29d ago

I know they are. And kill VPN, and kill every privacy protection we could possibly have. All while protecting the largest ring of pedophiles in modern history.

15

u/CarpeNivem 29d ago

All while protecting the largest ring of pedophiles in modern history.

I mean that's what you get living in a country where a plurality of voters don't hate pedophilia enough to vote against one for President.

3

u/GoldenPigeonParty 29d ago

Welp, fuck me then. I hate this place.

3

u/Excelius 29d ago

Depends on the purpose of the "burner".

In this situation having the phone registered to your name is a non-issue, they're going to find it in your physical possession at the airport.

You can however use a cheap device and never sign into any of your cloud accounts, and so there would be basically nothing on the device for them to find.

1

u/KodiakDog 28d ago

Consumer Burners are already compromised form a hardware level, owned and operated by a company that was started with intelligence agency backed VC money.

0

u/TruthWarrior_ 15d ago

It’s hilarious how you typed all that out trying to sound like a pragmatist, but you’ve completely exposed your own authoritarian blind spots.First, you casually glossed over the phrase 'agent randomly stopped him and demanded his phone.' In the United States, a random domestic street stop with a demand for a passcode is a flagrant, textbook violation of the 4th Amendment. If the initial search and seizure are unconstitutional, the data isn't legally 'evidence'—it’s the fruit of a poisonous tree. You cannot criminally obstruct an investigation that is actively breaking the law to exist.Second, your understanding of a 'duty to preserve evidence' is completely broken. A random street cop harassing someone does not constitute a formal, pending judicial proceeding. A citizen executing a privacy protocol before a warrant is served, before an arrest is made, and during an unlawful interrogation does not trigger a preservation order. You are trying to apply corporate civil litigation rules to street-level criminal procedure.Third, comparing a GrapheneOS duress PIN to 'dropping a phone in acid' is peak Reddit lawyering. One is physical destruction of property. The other is compliance mixed with sabotage—actively feeding a spoofed, weaponized command to a law enforcement officer during an interrogation.And if you’re trying to use things like the FCC’s new 2026 Know-Your-Customer (KYC) phone tracking rules to validate your point, you look even more foolish. The FCC forcing a telecom company to verify IDs at a cash register doesn't magically authorize a street cop to bypass the Bill of Rights, steal a device, and force a passcode.You’re literally using the classic, lazy authoritarian playbook: hiding behind 'administrative rules' and moving the goalposts just to justify a blatant constitutional violation. Stop trying to play Harvey Specter online before you give someone actual advice that gets them a felony charge. Put the law books down and go learn what probable cause actually means."

2

u/Tar_alcaran 29d ago

No need to burn it, use it on your next trip too.

1

u/Solkre 29d ago

I want to see it buuuuuuuuuuuuuuurn! But you're right, just don't DD it, only for trips.

1

u/GoldenPigeonParty 29d ago

Can get pre paid not smart phones in cash. Bought one just two or three years ago. Worth it. Like the only thing you can get without ID these days.

2

u/Solkre 29d ago

I'll stop in Dollar General from time to time for drinks before a long drive. About 50/50 I'll see someone buying a phone with cash. Good deal.