New, by me: A federal district court in New York ruled that U.S. border agents must obtain a warrant before searching the electronic devices of Americans and international travelers crossing the U.S. border.
The judge warned that had they ruled in the government's favor, this ruling could have be used to target political opponents, who "would only need to travel once through an international airport for the government to gain unfettered access" to their devices.
I'm wondering what impact (if any) this has on a years-ago SCOTUS ruling? You can be compelled to unlock your phone without a warrant if it's only secured with a biometric lock (fingerprint/face) but not if it's a PIN or pattern - that requires a warrant.
I've made a point of power-cycling my phone when going through Customs since then, because my phone requires both after a power cycle.
>> While the court ruled that the warrantless search of Sultanov’s phone was unconstitutional, the court concluded that the government had acted in good faith at the time of the search and dismissed Sultanov’s motion to suppress the evidence from his phone.
>> dismissed Sultanov’s motion to suppress
not as big a victory as claimed
we will have to see if practices at the border actually change
once they have your device, they can put anything on it
@ScottSoCal on an iPhone you can also tap the power button five times to require the pin to unlock
@ScottSoCal well SCOTUS hasn't actually ruled on compelled unlocking yet. There are definite tests that courts have applied in recent years, but it's all under Fifth Amendment case law and deals with the aspect of self-incrimination
@ScottSoCal @zackwhittaker I’ve switched to always requiring a pin.