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

411 points · 378 comments · rbanffy

  1. TrackerFF · · 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 · · 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. mvc · · focus · HN ↗
        All the shady stuff the UK does, it does at the behest of the US.
        1. someonebaggy · · focus · HN ↗
          I don't think so. I think the British public genuinely want to live in an authoritarian surveillance state.

          Once they do, they might stop wanting to live in one. But for now they want it.

          1. OroPla · · focus · HN ↗
            If the country is thoroughly taken over by crime, an authoritarian surveillance state does have its perks. I heard there are no-go zones in London that tourists are warned about, so maybe that is the case over there.

            Citizens had been cheering when the government over in El Salvador was rounding up all the gang members and just locked them up without due process.

            1. goatlover · · focus · HN ↗
              If a country is "thoroughly taken over by crime", wouldn't it stand to reason that the criminals are running the surveillance state? Certainly starting to feel that way in the US at the federal level.
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