CBP Suit over phone seized at the border
Aug 24, 2018, 1:28 pm
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CBP Suit over phone seized at the border
I had not heard of this case before: https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-45295615
Aug 24, 2018, 3:18 pm
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From the article...
Which to me equates to FWM 
"Ms Lazoja is a Muslim woman and wears a hijab (a headscarf) in accordance with her religious beliefs
Aug 25, 2018, 9:39 am
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DHS = Department of Harassment Screening? That invites lawsuits.
Aug 25, 2018, 10:50 am
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Aug 26, 2018, 3:20 am
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I note that she is represented by the Council on Islamic-American Relations.
The lawsuit alleges that her phone contained privileged communications between her and her attorney with the Council on Islamic-American Relations.
It's unclear why they were representing her before her phone was seized, but it suggests that she was involved in some prior activism or discrimination claim or dispute with the government or something like that.
I'm not saying that's a good basis to seize her phone. CBP may have had an excellent reason to seize her phone, or they may not have.
The lawsuit alleges that her phone contained privileged communications between her and her attorney with the Council on Islamic-American Relations.
It's unclear why they were representing her before her phone was seized, but it suggests that she was involved in some prior activism or discrimination claim or dispute with the government or something like that.
I'm not saying that's a good basis to seize her phone. CBP may have had an excellent reason to seize her phone, or they may not have.
Aug 26, 2018, 8:20 am
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I note that she is represented by the Council on Islamic-American Relations.
The lawsuit alleges that her phone contained privileged communications between her and her attorney with the Council on Islamic-American Relations.
It's unclear why they were representing her before her phone was seized, but it suggests that she was involved in some prior activism or discrimination claim or dispute with the government or something like that.
I'm not saying that's a good basis to seize her phone. CBP may have had an excellent reason to seize her phone, or they may not have.
The lawsuit alleges that her phone contained privileged communications between her and her attorney with the Council on Islamic-American Relations.
It's unclear why they were representing her before her phone was seized, but it suggests that she was involved in some prior activism or discrimination claim or dispute with the government or something like that.
I'm not saying that's a good basis to seize her phone. CBP may have had an excellent reason to seize her phone, or they may not have.
Aug 26, 2018, 9:28 am
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The indications on why she may have also had attorney-client communications on her phone is rather obviously indicated in the linked item above: frustration with being repeatedly and consistently flagged (over a frustratingly long period) for extra screening by DHS employees.
Aug 26, 2018, 10:12 am
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Last edited by GUWonder; Aug 26, 2018 at 10:18 am
Oct 2, 2018, 11:38 am
#12
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This case isn't directly related to border searches but I think it points to the mindset of federal law enforcement and the direction things are headed concerning our personal electronic devices.
Smart phones, tablets and other such devices contain a wealth of information which might be of interest to government investigators and I believe they will push the boundaries to extract that information up to and including obtaining search warrants in particular cases. Even if securely locked a wise person would endure that nothing is on a device that they don't want shared with unknowns.
The FBI used a suspect’s face to unlock his iPhone in Ohio case
Smart phones, tablets and other such devices contain a wealth of information which might be of interest to government investigators and I believe they will push the boundaries to extract that information up to and including obtaining search warrants in particular cases. Even if securely locked a wise person would endure that nothing is on a device that they don't want shared with unknowns.
The FBI used a suspect’s face to unlock his iPhone in Ohio case
Oct 3, 2018, 1:59 pm
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A Couple of Lessons --
This case isn't directly related to border searches but I think it points to the mindset of federal law enforcement and the direction things are headed concerning our personal electronic devices.
Smart phones, tablets and other such devices contain a wealth of information which might be of interest to government investigators and I believe they will push the boundaries to extract that information up to and including obtaining search warrants in particular cases. Even if securely locked a wise person would endure that nothing is on a device that they don't want shared with unknowns.
The FBI used a suspect’s face to unlock his iPhone in Ohio case
Smart phones, tablets and other such devices contain a wealth of information which might be of interest to government investigators and I believe they will push the boundaries to extract that information up to and including obtaining search warrants in particular cases. Even if securely locked a wise person would endure that nothing is on a device that they don't want shared with unknowns.
The FBI used a suspect’s face to unlock his iPhone in Ohio case
the affidavit notes that both the Columbus Police Department and Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation possess devices that would allow them to bypass a phone’s passcode.
Oct 3, 2018, 3:18 pm
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1. All of these "convenience" unlocking schemes such as facial recognition and "touch ID" are also convenient for CBP and other prying LE eyes. So, there's nothing like a good ol' fashioned passcode -- six digits versus four on the iPhone.
2. I forget the name of the device, but I have seen articles on the subject. It's basically a random number generator that can also send a command to reset the internal iPhone counter to zero before the phone can brick itself after ten unsuccessful attempts to unlock it. So, it basically runs until it guesses right. Using a six-digit passcode, you increase the number of possible combinations of numbers from 10,000 for four numbers to 1 million for six numbers. You can't stop them, especially if they have a warrant, but you can make it 100 times harder.
2. I forget the name of the device, but I have seen articles on the subject. It's basically a random number generator that can also send a command to reset the internal iPhone counter to zero before the phone can brick itself after ten unsuccessful attempts to unlock it. So, it basically runs until it guesses right. Using a six-digit passcode, you increase the number of possible combinations of numbers from 10,000 for four numbers to 1 million for six numbers. You can't stop them, especially if they have a warrant, but you can make it 100 times harder.
Oct 3, 2018, 4:06 pm
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https://www.macrumors.com/2018/06/04...ed-by-default/
Or GrayKey might find another hole, who knows. They claim to have already defeated iOS 12 but it seems there's a lot of skepticism about that claim.
Last edited by txflyer77; Oct 3, 2018 at 4:14 pm