US Customs block Canadian man after reading through his private data - Polidicks

[QUOTE=chernisreal?;51882057]Why would anybody bring a resume in print format over the border when they could scan it digitally and host it online to be retrieved once across the border? People get caught with illegal work schemes while bringing print resume's over the border all the time.[/QUOTE] I don't quite get what your saying here, are you saying people do scan their resumes and host it online? I don't quite see how that would justify searching through someones private data. They could still do that and just discretely wipe any stored data.

[QUOTE=OvB;51881808]Sounds like they were under the impression he was some kind of international sex worker since his email was associated with craigslist sex ads. Don't know if it's the case here, but stopping Sex Trafficking is part of what Customs does. Though if that's what they were doing they likely would've mentioned it.[/QUOTE] Right, which I understand, but I mean if he isn't selling sex slaves or spreading HIV/AIDS on purpose is he not allowed to ask for sex? I mean we have websites dedicated to having affairs. It's probably just me though, I think it's silly to waste the manpower and time on those who willing offer their bodies to others. If that makes sense.

Entering with clean devices is suspicious, too? [b]I wonder why someone would go to such lengths.[/b] This is a display of perfect hypocrisy. Land of the free, free to search ya shit and deny ya ass, if we don't get your data on a silver platter. Screw you if you have something to hide or don't live a normal prudish Christian sex live. [IMG]https://puu.sh/umtod/7345e31aaa.gif[/IMG]AMERICA![IMG]https://puu.sh/umtod/7345e31aaa.gif[/IMG] Great, so you gonna have to go the extra length and actually make a decoy device with decoy data to enter the US for the mere chance you might get searched, to not get those expensive tickets and all other expenses wasted because some customs-jackass decided to ruin your day because of intuition™ and suspicion™.

[QUOTE=TheRealFierce;51882149]I don't quite get what your saying here, are you saying people do scan their resumes and host it online? I don't quite see how that would justify searching through someones private data. They could still do that and just discretely wipe any stored data.[/QUOTE] I'm saying criminals are stupid. Just watch an episode of Canadian Border Security and you will be shocked at the amount of tech illiterates who get caught up in their illegal schemes. CBSA agents can crush such schemes just by viewing text message records.

I always hate going through US immigration and customs, they make you feel like a criminal straight away and it really doesn't feel welcoming to non-citizens. That being said, I've had better experience with CBP than Australian border force, even though I'm an Australian citizen they've searched my phone and laptop to try and see if I was bringing back goods over $1000 AU from the US as I had my camera on me (which I bought in Australia over a year ago) with no recipt and made me nearly miss my connecting flight, threatening to deny me entry if I didn't produce a recipet. Wondering how CBP will treat me once I move to the US though..

[QUOTE=chunkymonkey;51881940]I hate traveling to the US. US Customs are some of the most unfriendly people I've ever met.[/QUOTE] I went to Vegas in 2016 and Boston in 2014, and it really didn't feel any different then going between provinces, except being a bit longer.

[QUOTE=chernisreal?;51881901]I think it's reasonable. Considering most records are kept digitally these days, and agents were previously able to search document briefcases, it seems reasonable that they should be able to require access to digital devices' if suspicious. There is significant oversight when a search is carried out. If one is worried about privacy, my recommendation is to wipe your phone.[/QUOTE] You think it's reasonable for random website passwords to be demanded from you then stored where it can be accessed by random employees and leaks? For your device to be cloned? You vastly underestimate the amount of personal information in your phone, give me your phone and i can figure out where you've been every day of your life since you bought it, who you communicate with, all your little preferences and habits through your app usage and web history and everything related to every app you have on it. We have rights for a damn good reason. It's fucked that they just get given away at the border whether or not you're a US citizen.

[QUOTE=Tuskin;51884076]I went to Vegas in 2016 and Boston in 2014, and it really didn't feel any different then going between provinces, except being a bit longer.[/QUOTE] From dark chocolate to paper, while passing trough caramel, how white are you?

I just can't get over the "looking for loads" misunderstanding in order to be outraged. I'm trying to imagine a cop who's so sheltered, milquetoast and overly-serious that he doesn't know what a load means, and all I can see is officer bubbles.

[QUOTE=Limed00d;51881378]Doesn't justify jack shit.[/QUOTE] When this is standard practice for most first world countries, then either they're all totalitarian, privacy-hating, civil-rights-denying hellholes like people are making the US out to be, or the criticism is hyperbolic. Pick one. Either way, acting like the US is uniquely wrong in this regard is ridiculously sensationalist.

So, if I go through customs, they have the right to use my password to open my internet accounts and sift through all my personal info? If I had brought a key to a locked safe at a bank in my luggage, would they have the right to take that key all the way to the bank and check what's in that safe? That's basically what's being done. The key (your password) to your safe (social media accounts/other accounts) at the bank (Twitter, Facebook, Craigslist, etc.'s servers off in god knows where) is being used by someone who is making a copy of they key (password kept on file) and the safe contents (information stored on file, devices being copied, etc), just in case you [I]might[/I] do something bad. The biggest issue I think is that by taking your password and accessing your account, they are illegally accessing a company's web site with a fraudulent identity. They're breaking Facebook's/Twitter's/whatever's Terms of Service or whatever, and they're technically breaking into a website with a stolen password. I don't think that it's legal to break into a safe with someone else's key without the bank having a say in the matter. Just because you can access an account instantly via the internet rather than having an agent drive to the bank, it's still the same premise.

[QUOTE=SleepyAl;51884817]So, if I go through customs, they have the right to use my password to open my internet accounts and sift through all my personal info? If I had brought a key to a locked safe at a bank in my luggage, would they have the right to take that key all the way to the bank and check what's in that safe? That's basically what's being done. The key (your password) to your safe (social media accounts/other accounts) at the bank (Twitter, Facebook, Craigslist, etc.'s servers off in god knows where) is being used by someone who is making a copy of they key (password kept on file) and the safe contents (information stored on file, devices being copied, etc), just in case you [I]might[/I] do something bad. The biggest issue I think is that by taking your password and accessing your account, they are illegally accessing a company's web site with a fraudulent identity. They're breaking Facebook's/Twitter's/whatever's Terms of Service or whatever, and they're technically breaking into a website with a stolen password. I don't think that it's legal to break into a safe with someone else's key without the bank having a say in the matter. Just because you can access an account instantly via the internet rather than having an agent drive to the bank, it's still the same premise.[/QUOTE] Nice theory but predicated on bad reading. The agent demanded the password for his [i]devices[/i] and associated the public profiles with the data on those devices. The agent never demanded passwords for online services. That said, at least in law, lawyers who travel are well aware that privileged information must [i]never[/i] be kept on devices carried across borders for this reason.

[QUOTE=catbarf;51884670]When this is standard practice for most first world countries, then either they're all totalitarian, privacy-hating, civil-rights-denying hellholes like people are making the US out to be, or the criticism is hyperbolic. Pick one. Either way, acting like the US is uniquely wrong in this regard is ridiculously sensationalist.[/QUOTE] I've never claimed everyone else doing it is okay either, I'm saying that because others do it doesn't justify the US doing it. [editline]28th February 2017[/editline] "all the other kids" mentality rarely ever works to justify anything.

[QUOTE=skylortrexle;51881353]Me neither. Most of the time when I say this, people say "Then move!" It's not that simple god damn it. I can barely afford to eat most days where I am. How the fuck would I be able to afford moving out of the country? I could just abandon my life here and pack my car up but I have family and friends that I can't just abandon. I have no savings because I work part time and cannot afford to save much and finding a well paying job is a fucking crapshoot. It feels like I'd be more likely to win the lotto than get a good job. I don't know where I'm going with this post but I hate America today and I hate that I am practically forced to live here.[/QUOTE] if you truly want to leave, you will have to abandon your friends and family, even if you had enough money to comfortably leave. if you ever feel like you must leave the country to go someplace you feel safer and more comfortable, you must accept that you will be abandoning people you love and work through that. that is the most difficult part and it does not get easier with money

[QUOTE=Snowmew;51884863]Nice theory but predicated on bad reading. The agent demanded the password for his [i]devices[/i] and associated the public profiles with the data on those devices. The agent never demanded passwords for online services. That said, at least in law, lawyers who travel are well aware that privileged information must [i]never[/i] be kept on devices carried across borders for this reason.[/QUOTE] [quote]“I didn’t know what to do. I was scared, so I gave them the password and then I sat there for at least an hour or two. I missed my flight,” André says. “He came back and just started grilling me. ‘Is this your email?’ and it was an email attached to a Craigslist account for sex ads. He asked me, ‘Is this your account on Scruff? Is this you on BBRT?’ I was like, ‘Yes, this is me.’”[/quote] It looks like the Customs agent did access this person's email, his Craigslist, BBRT and his Scruff accounts. By unlocking his mobile device and accessing these apps he's using the saved password on that device for those particular apps. Ergo, I'd assume he's still breaking a US company's ToS and accessing data on a server in America unlawfully. I think the metaphor still applies. Even in the article it mentions Scruff syncing your data from their servers when you open the app, meaning that the customs officer is accessing data that was not on the device originally.