Coming from a district court, I think this ruling could be appealed, but it’s welcome news nevertheless.
They tried to search my laptop when they went through my car at the border, and were greeted with an encrypted boot screen. They tried to interrogate me twice. Glad to know nobody else will have to deal with that now.
“So, you’re a tech guy, huh? I bet you’re smart.” 😐 …
“Are you into politics? Who’d you vote for?” 🫤 …
“I’m just trying to have a friendly conversation with you.” 🤐 …
I mean every work laptop is (/should be) encrypted. It’s about as suspicious as having 2 factor authentication.
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Smart enough to not be working border patrol.
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Noneya
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This is obviously just you flexing what little power you have in your life.
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It’s still an excellent idea to power off your phone whenever you are in the vicinity of a border guard and never voluntarily unlock it anywhere close to the border. You can’t (generally) be compelled to unlock your phone but you absolutely can have an unlocked phone grabbed out of your hands by a border guard with no legal right to lock it.
This is important - power OFF your phone. Your phone is more secure before you unlock it for the first time after booting. Use a strong password as well.
never voluntarily unlock it anywhere close to the border.
Isn’t that defined as 100 mile from the border (including international airports)
I believe it’s 100 miles from the border including coastlines but does not include a 100 mile radius around international airports. I don’t remember the source but Ive seen a map that represented it that way.
Also worth noting, this ruling only benefits citizens in that specific district, as other districts aren’t bound by its rulings. Personally I’d recommend having a 2nd device you can use to record your interactions because if they violate your rights your chances of getting their body cam video of it aren’t great.
What if you’re 99 miles and 5279 feet from the border while being questioned? Can you take one more step and be safe?
And are those statute miles or nautical miles?
They’ll probably claim “hot pursuit” as a justification for arresting you.
Evading arrest is likely the charge, however I’m being pedantic.
Sorry I meant hot pursuit would probably be the justification for why they’d be allowed to chase you outside their jurisdiction
Sure, like I said I was being pedantic.
Travel with a burner, wipe it before boarding . If at any time my phone has been removed from my possession, when I arrive back at my home port/airport, I remove the SIM and drop the phone in the garbage.
Laptops I mail the encrypted drive back home and travel with a clean install on a disposable 128/256g drive.
trying to explain to my wife why we should buy a new phone every time we visit her family
Can I tour your bunker?
Infosec, Financials and Elections. Having good security posture is fashionable.
No bunker, but you can come tour my boat.
“No bunker”
Oh, I understand. <wink wink>
No you don’t, but that’s ok, I wouldn’t expect you to.
Who cares I’m not going to that shit hole anyway…
Hey, parts of the US are decent
Well, if our government can stop Americans from going to other countries to discuss peace talks.
They can also force you and anyone else to hand over your electronics. With multiple men that are armed in the airport, there is nothing you can do until they allow you to get a lawyer, and then that will also not help to keep your rights after the fact.
Sure, but we shouldn’t normalize searching through phones without a warrant, especially for journalists.
It’s great that the courts are standing up against CBP here.
