News and notes from around the interweb:
- Story has been going around a bit virally about a NASA scientist and US citizen who was detained at the border returning to the country and told he had to disclose his phone password. Is this legal? (One reader suggests on twitter always wiping your phone before reaching the border and then restoring it from the cloud, which raises a whole different set of issues.)
- You’re now guaranteed to get the new, full flat World Business Class when flying a KLM Boeing longhaul aircraft. The final plane is in modification now, so everything in service is now flat (the 787 is most desireable for direct aisle access at every seat). Compared to what it was, a great improvement, and you get the little houses. But most aircraft could have really used direct aisle access.
Copyright: flaperval / 123RF Stock Photo - Lufthansa’s Mediocre Business Class Installed on Their New A350s. They use the B/E Aerospace Diamond seat (not the Super Diamond) that United will be moving away from as they install Polaris. And while center seats offer direct aisle access, they’re also ‘ “footsie class”, where passengers’ feet point towards each other in an awkward V and are divided by a flimsy mini-screen at foot level.’
- 1 out of 1300 pilots failed a random breathalyzer.
- Nigeria’s main carrier Arik Air is being taken over by the government
- Woman arrested with raw animal brains in her luggage entering the U.S. at DFW airport.
- India is considering renaming their airports after cities instead of people
- Emirates is getting a hard time for not waiving their weight limit on free checked bags, Emirates charges aid worker £800 to take underwear to help poverty-stricken children at an orphanage in Africa.
‘The ones who have no legs spend a lot of time on their bottoms and their underwear gets worn out very quickly.
‘Last time I went I took pencils and educational things, but this time they wanted lots of underwear too.
‘It’s a real shame, in this day and age, that people can’t find it in their hearts to help’ said the retired schoolteacher.
On the one hand, Emirates already offers a generous free checked baggage allowance and their policy is easily found at emirates.com. On the other hand underwear for poor orphans. Oh my..
Disclosing the phone password per se is no big deal. It can be changed to something else in seconds. Heck, I now lock and unlock my new Motorola DROID Z Force phone using my fingerprints. What can they do about that?
I believe that the real issue is if the request to disclose the password is so that they can go in it and and roam around in search of whatever. That’s not even in a gray area. It would be illegal in America without a FISA court order…
@DCS
Yes, they can take your device into another room to search it if they want to. You don’t have as many rights when crossing the border. https://www.eff.org/wp/defending-privacy-us-border-guide-travelers-carrying-digital-devices
Depending on what they’re looking for, they may call your contacts (to suss out whether you intend to work in violation of a visa), or just dump everything on a forensic device.
Stepping away from border crossings for a second- If your phone is locked up tight using a fingerprint or passcode and has the latest security updates there’s not a whole lot the police/other authorities can do without your co-operation, other than pressure you with detention. This is where the law is somewhat unsettled regarding 5th amendment rights against self-incrimination. Currently courts have held that you can be compelled to provide a fingerprint because it is not “testimonial evidence”. But a passcode, other the other hand – you can always say “I forgot.” This is why some security expects recommend using a strong passcode and disabling Touch ID. If in a jam with the police and you have Touch ID enabled on your iPhone- shut it off! It requires the passcode on reboot.
@Red — touch ID also requires passcode fallback if you use the wrong finger too many times. Dunno if that would be illegal though.
This is not legal advice but fingerprints are not “information’ where as passcodes are, so it’s easier to make a case that you shouldn’t have to disclose your passcode vs. using your fingerprint to unlock it for the,.
@red — They can do that without cause, just because one looks, e.g., Muslim?
The phone was already property of the US Government. There are zero privacy rights involved.
J.C. – It doesn’t matter if it is government property or not, but the issue is would a CBP drone have the right security level to access a phone of NASA scientist, which could have research info and emails that can be determined classified information? I sincerely doubt that. Let alone the fact that the scientist in question happens to have Global Entry but has brown skin and likely wears a turban. I doubt the only “security threat” that this scientist posed was CBP drone thought he was Muslim due to his name (which is Indian, BTW).
When crossing the US border just use your Russian passport. No problems as far as the Manchurian Candidate is concerned. We have a real, serious problem in the oval office sports fans. Hopefully all will recognize this despite our domestic political differences.
Any police officer can ask you to unlock your phone and 99% will comply. If you consent then no 4th Amendment protection applies. You must first refuse consent to test whether you will be compelled.