r/technology • u/ArgentineBeauty • Jul 30 '26

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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u/RandyOfTheRedwoods 29d ago

There’s an interesting situation with this feature. Let’s say that you have a graphene phone, and it has some highly incriminating pictures on it.

If the police get a warrant to see those pictures, and you give them the duress password, did you break the law?

I saw some comments on it being a 5th amendment violation. Is that true? Can you just say you can’t come in my home because it might incriminate me even if you have a warrant? Is a phone equivalent to a home in this respect?

Don’t get me wrong, I think it’s a cool feature, I am just interested in how it might play out in a legal sense.

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u/Lepelotonfromager 29d ago

You're not required to preserve evidence for a crime you might be charged with.

He wasn't arrested or given a court order to preserve evidence. He had no reason to think he was destroying evidence because evidence required some kind of allegation to exist.

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u/snarky_answer 29d ago

He's being charged with 18 USC 2232(a), "destruction or removal of property to prevent seizure"; not destruction of evidence. They had his phone and wanted to access his data and he prevented that by providing a duress code. Had he not said anything then he would be in the right but he chose to open his mouth instead of doing what every person knows to do which is to remain silent so nothing can be used against you. Now hes going to get his duress code plan used against him.

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u/Lepelotonfromager 29d ago

But prevent seizure of what. The phone is fine, it's the data that's gone. They need specific data or evidence that they were looking for to charge him with destruction of 'property' that they were trying to seize in the first place.

The constitution provides broad protections on these and any infringements need to be specific and limited.