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Quebecker Faces Jail For Not Giving Up Phone Password To Canadian Officials
wired_parrot writes Canadian customs officials have charged a 38-year old man with obstruction of justice after he refused to give up his Blackberry phone password [on arrival in Canada by plane from the Dominican Republic]. As this is a question that has not yet been litigated in Canadian courts, it may establish a legal precedent for future cases. From the article: [Law professor Rob] Currie says the issue of whether a traveller must reveal a password to an electronic device at the border hasn't been tested by a court.
"This is a question that has not been litigated in Canada, whether they can actually demand you to hand over your password to allow them to unlock the device," he said. "One thing for them to inspect it, another thing for them to compel you to help them."
None of this can be true, I was told no one had blackberries anymore. It's all lies lies I tell you
The Canadian government should just reach out the NSA. I'm sure they could provide the password. No warrant necessary.
Terabytes (Petabytes?) of encrypted data enters the country every day from across the world via the internet, yet Border Services thinks they need to inspect the data on everyone's phones?
I sincerely hope he wins the case.
The practice of Israeli border-guards of demanding access to e-mail of some people wishing to cross into the country is rather disliked by /. and others.
But the worst, that a non-cooperation would result in there would be an interrogation and a flight back to whence you came from. To actually be arrested and prosecuted for a crime over such a refusal is new... Should we begin divesting from Canada's corporations?
In Soviet Washington the swamp drains you.
To me, the owner of any electronic device that is password protected should not disclose the password to the device unless the authority has a warrant out for that person.
These are border guards. Technically you haven't entered the country, they don't need warrants to search anything. Now as someone pointed out they should have refused him entry not have him arrested.
The person in question is a Canadian citizen and cannot be denied reentry into Canada or sent back.
"He is so stupid. And now back to the wall!" Moe Szyslak
This story points to the clear need for edible phones. Imagine that as you are landing in some country with a lack of respect for civil liberties, you receive a text message warning you that your phone is about to be confiscated. What if you could simply eat your phone? Wouldn't that be ideal. Edible phones could be the next growth market for the tech industry. Message me for details on how to invest.
You have the right to remain silent.
In which countries? And to what extent in each country? This incident occurred in Canada, and the notice you're alluding to is the "Miranda warning", which is in use in a country other than Canada.
Border guards demanded that she give them her password... They told her it was either not enter the country (and forfeit the deal) or give up her password. Her issue was that she was exposing privileged information to third parties who could, potentially, have illegally profited from the knowledge contained in that laptop.
At present, borders are dangerous legal limbo. This area needs deep oversight and clear paths for travellers to have recourse to constitutional rights.
*** Don't be dull.***
"Nawtzees, not just in Germany anymore..."
What about the "I don't remember my password" defense?
I don't know how it works in the US, but the Canadian government cannot refuse a Canadian citizen entry into the country. That's a very good thing.
I don't know how it works in the US, but the Canadian government cannot refuse a Canadian citizen entry into the country. That's a very good thing.
If the only destination in Canada, that such a citizen is allowed to go to, is prison, I doubt, many would prefer that to the (hypothetical) alternative of flying back.
In Soviet Washington the swamp drains you.
It's only Quebecois if you're speaking French. En anglais, it's Quebecker.
... smart devices should have two (2) pass codes.
One of the pass codes allows the owner in.
The other pass code BRICKS the goddam phone. That's the one we give the authorities.
Then, it's like, "Hey you bastards, what did you do to my phone? You owe me a phone!!!"
Until probable cause has been established and a search warrant issued, evidence does not exist.
Right now, I can choose to brick my phone. Ir's mine. I am not compelled by any retention laws to maintain an archive for future requests to examine the phone.
The phone will have to be backed up on the cloud, of course, but authorities don't know that's been done; they don't know where it's been done, and they will have to slow things down in order to get a search warrant.
During that window of opportunity, I am at liberty to delete cloud-based stuff until such time I am formally made aware, by warrant, that my junk is evidence by way of probable cause.
It little behooves the best of us to comment on the rest of us.
Obstruction of justice is typically things like bribing witnesses, which is specifically mentioned in the law. Not refusing to unlock oa locked cell-phone, which the courts have held requires a warrant in other circumstances.
From the information in the article, this sounds like an attempt to scare a citizen into doing something.
Attempts to widen this particular law to cover less serious crimes get rejected by the courts: the very first case on the subject inCanII says (emphasis added)
[19] Moreover, an assertion that the mere attempt by an accused to identify an informant is a crime, fails to take into account that the types of conduct which constitute obstruction of justice, even though not fully articulated in the Criminal Code, are relatively well and narrowly defined in the law, and must remain so narrowly defined in order to have certainty in the law. Offences against the administration of justice have always included such conduct as attempting to influence a jury or to threaten a witness, or publishing sensitive information when a matter is working its way through the justice system, a general category of conduct which lawyers sometimes call an infraction of the sub judice rule. I have been unable to find a single suggestion anywhere in the law that an accused cannot take steps to identify a police informant; the court should act with restraint in opening new classes of obstruction of justice. Although obstruction of justice is an evolving concept, its main tendency is to narrow the categories of conduct which may constitute a crime rather than to enlarge them: Sunday Times. Recent examples of the narrowing of the categories include the removal of scandalizing the court as a matter of contempt, Kopyto, and the striking down of the publication ban on bail hearings, White.
davecb@spamcop.net
On my new Blackberry 10 Classic, I can hold down the power button and quickly lock the phone. Further use requires a password.
You're right about about the cedilla, only half right about the acute accents. To the language police it's: Québecois.
With their language use laws the language police in Québec also include the QPP (Quebec Provincial Police).
Interesting factoid: Tim Hortons is Canada's most popular coffee/donut fast food restaurant. It doesn't have an apostrophe. In Québec, an apostrophe would make it English, which would make it illegal (or at least illegal if the name was displayed bigger than the French equivalent). On their signs, they use a maple leaf instead of an apostrophe. The eye sees the apostrophe instead. (I'd call it a trompe l'oeill, which would be àpropos if not entirely accurate)
We need a "+1 -- nice sig" moderation.
Sure its derogatory. Much the same as New Yorker or Scotsman. WTF?
None of them can see the clouds; The polished wings don't care.
"I don't know how it works in the US, but the Canadian government cannot refuse a Canadian citizen entry into the country. That's a very good thing."
The right to return is part of UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights:
You should check with those organization's policies on the location/protection of information. You may find that you are not authorized by them to take that information out of the country, encrypted or not.
If you work for a company in the United States that does any kind of technical work, that company may have policies against your taking any of their IT equipment (and information) outside of the United States. Yes, even a cell phone, even to Canada. You might open them up to a violation of export control laws at a minimum.
Off the main topic but still of interest - even talking inside the borders of the US to a non-US person (a specific designation referring to a combination of non-citizenship, non-green card holder) about a technical subject can be a violation of export controls on technical information.
it doesn't appear that he was actually charged with any crime prior to be asked to divulge his phone password. It seems to me that there needs to be some sort of "probable cause" here and it doesn't appear that there is. There could be a very dangerous precedent set if police officers or boarder patrol or whomever are allowed to conduct an unlawful search for no apparent reason.Papers, comrade.
Maybe you just need a nice quiet place with no distractions (like an outside window) where you can remember.
Where are we going and why are we in a handbasket?
They are not trying to get physical evidence from him. They're trying to make him tell them the password. You have the right to remain silent.
Uh, you do realize you usually only hear these words right before handcuffs are being put on, right?
Enjoy your vacation. And legal fees.
They always say Freedom comes at a price. What they don't tell you is it will cost an innocent citizen thousands to keep it if you are ever put in a position to defend it.
Of course, you tend to get pissed when forced to defend your Freedom in situations where you are not legally required, or have been illegally pressured to do so.
It does not. Stop perpetuating their lie.
Good-bye
How can they force you to give information you don't have?
By confiscating your phone until your memory returns.
Yeah, that guy crying in the corner sucking his thumb mumbling about his social feeds...he's only been here eleven minutes.
Clearly it's pretty effective. Don't even need a jail cell.
While it is written specifically for the US, the EFF article Defending Privacy at the U.S. Border: A Guide for Travelers Carrying Digital Devices nonetheless provides a good discussion of your options in cases like this. It also discusses the various ways you can prepare your devices and data for the situation.
Enjoy life! This is not a dress rehearsal.
It's amazing to read articles like this and nobody on the government side is named, just agencies and some "spokesperson". Name them. Somebody arrested this guy, and somebody is trying to prosecute him. Everybody involved in this needs to be named and publicly shamed. They need to be in a situation where they go home at night and their wife says "hey, why is everybody we know calling and asking why you're prosecuting some guy for not turning over a password? Is that even illegal? Why is this so important?"
Quit letting scum bags hide behind anonymity.
Do you have ESP?
More importantly to a Canadian, it's section 6 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
Of course, section 8 is the part about being secure from unreasonable search and seizure, which should prevent being asked to give up passwords at the border....
Vintage computer games and RPG books available. Email me if you're interested.