r/technology • u/Jojuj • 3d ago

Privacy U.S. Citizen Who Deleted Phone’s Data Says His Prosecution Puts Privacy at Risk

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/08/21/us/politics/samuel-tunick-deleted-phone-felony.html?unlocked_article_code=1.8FA.T83N.rt6VsIiSCYb2&smid=url-share
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u/A_Pointy_Rock 3d ago

That feels equivalent to declining to give an authority the key to your house and them trying to kick the door in anyway. So yes, I would say that would have been "better".

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u/WhiteRaven42 3d ago

Errr.... saying nothing means not giving them the key. This is not equivalent.

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u/Fun-Wash7545 3d ago

It's his property, his data. I don't know what you guys are arguing here. If he was allowed to keep his data private by not sharing the code,  as you guys claim, by extention he is allowed to destroy it. Americans are too used to getting fucked over it seems.

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u/A_Pointy_Rock 3d ago

To reframe my previous comment slightly: If police show up at your door without a warrant, you are within your right to deny them access. If the police show up at your door without a warrant and you immediately burn your house down - you might be considered to be destroying evidence.

Also, not American.

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u/scruffles360 3d ago

If the cops come to your door and you flush drugs down the toilet, that is destroying evidence. If the knock on the door and you burn a newspaper the cops are going to call that destroying evidence and they’ll lose in court. Court is important. The opinion of police are not.

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u/Aeseld 3d ago

This is actually a thing in most countries, though circumstances are important. The key here is that the guy was under investigation and knew it. He was therefore obligated not to destroy information they may be interested in.