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Homeland Security Border Agents Can Seize Your Phone (cnn.com)

Posted by EditorDavid on from the unreasonable-search-and-seizure dept.

Slashdot reader v3rgEz writes: A Wall Street Journal reporter has shared her experienced of having her phones forcefully taken at the border -- and how the Department of Homeland Security insists that your right to privacy does not exist when re-entering the United States. Indeed, she's not alone: Documents previously released under FOIA show that the DHS has a long-standing policy of warrantless (and even motiveless) seizures at the border, essentially removing any traveler's right to privacy.
"The female officer returned 30 minutes later and said I was free to go," according to the Journal's reporter, adding. "I have no idea why they wanted my phones..."

5 of 319 comments (clear)

  1. Encryption by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    Keep your phone encrypted and always power it off when crossing the border. They can seize your phone but can't compel you to decrypt it.

  2. 100-mile zone by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    Agents can operate within a 100 mile zone of the border. (Most of the country)
    https://www.aclu.org/constitution-100-mile-border-zone

  3. Other news articles say the DHS 'tried' to take by schwit1 · · Score: 4, Informative

    https://reason.com/blog/2016/0...
    http://money.cnn.com/2016/07/2...

  4. Not just at the border... by QuietLagoon · · Score: 4, Informative
    ... but the ability for the Homeland Security Border Agents to do stuff extends to 100 miles from the border, in addition to the border crossings.

    .
    The Constitution in the 100-Mile Border Zone

  5. Wouldn't work by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    No, they'd just bug her SIM card, and it would grab all her contacts the next time she switches on the phone.

    https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2014/02/gopherset_nsa_e.html

    (TS//SI//REL) GOPHERSET is a software implant for GSM (Global System for Mobile communication) subscriber identity module (SIM) cards. This implant pulls Phonebook, SMS, and call log information from a target handset and exfiltrates it to a user-defined phone number via short message service (SMS).

    (TS//SI//REL) Modern SIM cards (Phase 2+) have an application program interface known as the SIM Toolkit (STK). The STK has a suite of proactive commands that allow the SIM card to issue commands and make requests to the handset. GOPHERSET uses STK commands to retrieve the requested information and to exfiltrate data via SMS. After the GOPHERSET file is compiled, the program is loaded onto the SIM card using either a Universal Serial Bus (USB) smartcard reader or via over-the-air provisioning. In both cases, keys to the card may be required to install the application depending on the service provider's security configuration.

    ************

    The SIM card keys keys they stole 2 billion of them from Gemalto, the SIM card manufacturer, by hacking their network and tracking their employees. If it's a USA phone, they would just ask AT&T or Sprint to give them the SIM card key, US telcos have immunity for helping the NSA, regardless of the laws.