Thread

Returning from vacation? The government can search your phone without a warrant

411 points · 378 comments · rbanffy

TrackerFF · 1790856519 · focus · HN ↗
Yeah, people are unfortunately not informed on just how much power border agents wield. Not only in the US, but in many (most I'd believe) other countries, too. I've worked on cases (intel side) where the law-enforcement side would just wait for the surveillance objects to cross the border, as that's where they could do most data collection with the least hassle.
If for whatever reason you think you're being investigated or surveilled (who knows for what these days, could be enough to just associate with the various protest groups / orgs), you can just assume that the border will be where they'll try to clone / download your data (phones, laptops, whatever)
1. kypro · 1790857063 · focus · HN ↗
  UK is crazy for this. Border police can detain anyone they like for literally no reason and if they do you have no right to lawyer or no right to silence. Your devices can also be taken and you must hand over any passwords.
  I know the UK is an authoritarian state and not really comparable to the US, but as a Brit it's kinda weird hearing Americans complain about flock cameras and arbitrary border searches – these are common place things in the UK and no one cares (well, apart from me and maybe one or two others).
  1. stronglikedan · 1790868304 · focus · HN ↗
    > Americans complain about flock cameras and arbitrary border searches – these are common place things in the UK
    We complain about those things because we can clearly see that "the UK is an authoritarian state" because they are common place in the UK.
    > no one cares
    More like people pretend to not care for fear of being locked up for seemly arbitrary reasons, which seems to happen quite a lot over there based on the news reports, because "the UK is an authoritarian state".
    someonebaggy · 1790872317 · focus · HN ↗
    It's not illegal in the UK to say you don't like the cameras everywhere. But if you ask UK people, they seem to actually like them. It's a different culture I guess.
    [deleted] · 1790879087 · focus · HN ↗
    [deleted]
    MentalM · 1790882199 · focus · HN ↗
    > It's not illegal in the UK to say you don't like the cameras everywhere.
    That is exactly how authoritarian state looks like.
    "It's not illegal in the <our-authoritarian-state> to do <something-our-authoritarian-state-does-not-like>" (but if you do, you'll be f.ucked. Probably. Because it is not illegal).
    someonebaggy · 1790883369 · focus · HN ↗
    No. Nobody is being punished in the UK for saying they don't like cameras everywhere.
    autoexec · 1790891855 · focus · HN ↗
    I'm not sure why they wouldn't be. People have been arrested for peacefully protesting (<a href="https://www.amnestyusa.org/urgent-actions/united-kingdom-over-500-further-arrests-at-peaceful-protests/" rel="nofollow">https://www.amnestyusa.org/urgent-actions/united-kingdom-ove...), asking who elected the king (<a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-oxfordshire-62878954" rel="nofollow">https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-oxfordshire-62878954), holding up signs (<a href="https://apnews.com/article/palestine-action-terror-ban-arrests-supreme-court-193d7ef0cb31f5e4b37b720044631d4c" rel="nofollow">https://apnews.com/article/palestine-action-terror-ban-arres...), flying flags (<a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/04/02/flag-raising-activist-arrested-distress-public-order-oxford/" rel="nofollow">https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/04/02/flag-raising-act...), posting photos of current events online (<a href="https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2024/08/30/fdbr-a30.html" rel="nofollow">https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2024/08/30/fdbr-a30.html), trying to avoid facial recognition (<a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/facial-recognition-cameras-technology-london-trial-met-police-face-cover-man-fined-a8756936.html" rel="nofollow">https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/facial-recogniti...), and in countless instances where people expressed themselves on social media.
    Punishing someone for saying they don't like cameras seems like it'd be perfectly on brand for the UK at this point.
    someonebaggy · 1790940876 · focus · HN ↗
    Notice all of these are time/place/manner violations, except for Palestine Action which is explicitly ruled illegal.
    If you go to the US inauguration and yell "hashtag not my president!" you'll get arrested too.
    autoexec · 1790987793 · focus · HN ↗
    You'd be far more likely to get away with it in the US, if you can get past security and the efforts to corral you into "free speech zones". Many people did exactly that.
    <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/donald-trump-oath-of-office-jeered-inauguration-latest-a7538631.html" rel="nofollow">https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/donald-tru...
    <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/donald-trump-inauguration-protests-live-latest-news-updates-washington-dc-capitol-us-president-ceremony-watch-a7536526.html" rel="nofollow">https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/donald-tru...
    someonebaggy · 1791039453 · focus · HN ↗
    I don't believe if you yell "hashtag not my president" at trump's inauguration you won't be arrested.

Open on Hacker News to reply ↗

Unofficial Hacker News client; not affiliated with Y Combinator.