NZ Customs Wants Power To Require Passwords

First time accepted submitter Orange Roughy writes New Zealand customs are seeking powers to obtain passwords and encryption keys for travelers. Supposedly they will only act to obtain credentials if it was acting on 'some intelligence or observation of abnormal behaviour.' People who refuse to hand over credentials could face up to three months jail time. From the story: "Customs boss Carolyn Tremain has told MPs the department would only request travellers hand over passwords to their electronic devices if it had a reason to be suspicious about what was on them. The department unleashed a furore last week when it said in a discussion paper that it should be given unrestricted power to force people to divulge passwords to their smartphones and computers at the border. That would be without Customs officials having to show they had any grounds for suspicion."

Comments

Strong public relations

[Futurepower(R)]

Kills tourism to N.Z.

Re: Strong public relations

[Anonymous Coward]

Fine. We do not believe you, go to jail. When you grow up you'll learn that playing smartass with people who literally own your life is not only foolish but suicidal. You have no concept or understanding of the imbalance of power between you and them, do you?

Re: Strong public relations

[Karmashock]

You can have hidden encrypted information.

You're starting an arms race. Cisco is already shipping routers to dead drops in a bid to avoid NSA interceptions.

The entire tech ecosystem is reacting to increased surveillance.

The average user you will get it. But person with something to hide? They'll install a bit of encryption software that will not only encrypt the data but make it look like it doesn't even exist.

And if there is something you have a bogus encrypted file that is decrypted instead.

There are lots of means of dealing with this stuff.

Re: Strong public relations

[Anonymous Coward]

People like you made Nazi Germany a reality. Good job.

Re: Strong public relations

[gadget junkie]

It won't happen. It's been demonstrated over and over again that people are willing and often eager to comply with the authorities' requests. More likely, other countries will follow soon and the day will come when this is law everywhere. We live in the Surveillance Age now. Deal with it.

Of course they are. the great unwashed do not see the point, and the others use some form of plausible deniability encryption.
This is the usual PHB event in which a high official misread some bad science in a hairdresser magazine, asked that something be done about it to an even more ignorant burocrat, and lo and behold, something was eventually done.
nothing to see here.