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Canadian Fined For Not Providing Border Agents Smartphone Password (www.cbc.ca)
Reader da_foz writes: A Canadian was reentering Canada when he was arrested and charged with hindering or obstructing border officials. At the time traces of cocaine were found on his bags and he was carrying $5,000 in cash. He provided his smartphone to border agents as requested, however refused to provide the password. Canada Border Services Agency officials asked for Philippon's smartphone and its password. From a report: "He handed over his BlackBerry but refused to disclose the code to access the phone. Philippon was arrested and charged under the federal Customs Act, accused of hindering or obstructing border officials." It is unclear if he provided the password while agreeing to the fine.
Sounds like a good feature for Alfresco would be a fake PIN or password that sends you to a dummy account with minimum if anything available. Android already supports multiple user profiles, maybe treat the lock screen as a log in as well.
They might have confiscated the cash, but then would have had to prove in court that the money was proceeds of crime. Failing that, they would have to give the money back.
... there are no misdemeanor charges they could have offered to plea down to, and they didn't drop the charge, so I'm pretty sure he kept the password to himself.
You don't have to declare any amount of cash below $C10,000, so I'm not sure what grounds they would have to confiscate the money, but they might have wanted to harass this person, and in that case deprive him of the money for a few months until the courts ordered it returned.
As for the cocaine residue, it's not illegal in Canada to have used drugs while visiting another country. The ion scanners they use can detect and identify extremely minuscule traces of many substances (not just drugs) but that does not mean the quantity would be enough to lay a charge. An ion scan, by itself, is not admissible evidence; you need a more definite test from a crime lab, which requires a larger quantity.
Really, the fine is essentially the only form of official sanction they had at their disposal. The only interesting part is they used it.
The OP wonders if he offered the password as well as received the fine. I seriously doubt it
If he hadn't, there would not be a story in the first place, I suspect the charge would have been stayed (dropped, but can be re-introduced within one year) or dropped entirely (cannot be charged again with the same offence for the same incident).
Wiping the device would be risky if you want to give the appearance of complying. Better would be an alternate password that gives them access to a dummy account that is good enough to look legit while not containing or giving access to content owned by the main profile.