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Man charged for refusing to give smartphone code to Canadian border guards


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http://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/man-charged-for-refusing-to-give-border-guards-his-phone-password-1.2266576


Josh Dehaas, CTVNews.ca
Published Thursday, March 5, 2015 8:45PM EST
Last Updated Friday, March 6, 2015 7:40AM EST

Canadian border officials in Halifax have charged a man after he refused to hand over the passcode for his smartphone, but an expert in the law says it’s not clear whether such demands are legal.

Alain Philippon is charged with “hindering” under section 153.1 of the Customs Act, according to Canadian Border Services Agency representative Cindy MacKenzie.

That section of the Customs Act, which governs border inspections, reads: “No person shall, physically or otherwise, do or attempt to do any of the following: (a) interfere with or molest an officer doing anything that the officer is authorized to do under this Act; or ( B) hinder or prevent an officer from doing anything that the officer is authorized to do under this Act.”

Rob Currie, director of the Law and Technology Institute at Dalhousie University’s law school, said it’s “open question” whether border security can demand passcodes and then search electronic devices, because the question has not been tested in Canadian courts.

“The provisions of the Customs Act that set out the powers of the duties of the customs officers do not speak to this particularly situation very clearly,” he told CTV's Power Play Thursday, noting that the act predates such electronic devices.

While Currie said the law allows border agents to “inspect” phones, computers and tablets, it’s not clear whether they’re allowed to demand passwords or even use the phones to access data held on remote servers.

“(The) Supreme Court of Canada has been clear recently that a cellphone is not like a suitcase, it’s not like a filing cabinet, it’s not like a purse or a handbag,” he said. “It’s got access to an enormous amount of data and the privacy interest in your cell phone and your computer is a lot higher.”

At the same time, Currie said that the border is not a place where Canadians can expect much privacy.

“Customs officials do have quite a license to fish,” he said. “They have a fairly broad discretionary power and we have said through parliament that that’s a good thing, that we want them to have those powers to search things where they have reasonable grounds at all (to) suspect something untoward.”

He said that the Supreme Court of Canada’s recent 4-3 decision that police can conduct limited searches of suspects cellphones without warrants does not apply here.

If found guilty, Phillipon faces a minimum fine of $1,000 and a maximum fine of $25,000, “and could include possible jail time,” according to the CBSA’s MacKenzie.

This is a really scary issue, which is as serious as the C-51 bill that's being pushed.

I get that there's no need to be worried if you've got nothing to hide, but this isn't about that. I've never (yet) been hassled by customs agents. This is about how much arbitrary leeway is given to authorities.

This is not too different from a situation where a police officer asks to search your car or on-person and you refuse.

I do have a question though - what if you were to install an anti-theft program which deletes the contents of your phone after several failed pin entries?

Would you still get charged for that? Slippery slope.

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The rules are so archaic. If someone was to have incriminating evidence, why would they leave it on their electronic devices? Be so much easier to just upload it to some secure/anonymous source online.

Good Point

But I wonder if they would be suspicious if say you wiped your phone or device before entering into Canada? and basically acting nonchalant about everything..

Then you would have to explain why your phone or device is wiped..

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http://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/man-charged-for-refusing-to-give-border-guards-his-phone-password-1.2266576

This is a really scary issue, which is as serious as the C-51 bill that's being pushed.

I get that there's no need to be worried if you've got nothing to hide, but this isn't about that. I've never (yet) been hassled by customs agents. This is about how much arbitrary leeway is given to authorities.

This is not too different from a situation where a police officer asks to search your car or on-person and you refuse.

I do have a question though - what if you were to install an anti-theft program which deletes the contents of your phone after several failed pin entries?

Would you still get charged for that? Slippery slope.

I'm going to guess you can't just give them the wrong passcode (or keep deliberately entering the wrong one) so it wipes the data in front of them. That doesn't seem much different than just refusing to give it to them. Not sure they would be able to do much (or anything) about you wiping it long before you got to the border though if you were really that worried or just want your privacy.

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how about an app that cloaks your real contents of yer phone but when you enter a certain pass code it opens up and displays your phone as you would want it displayed to a public officer hiding the details you dont want public and seeming like just a normal phone.

im not sure if this is possible, heck i dont even own a smart phone, but thats what came to mind when i read this.

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Good Point

But I wonder if they would be suspicious if say you wiped your phone or device before entering into Canada? and basically acting nonchalant about everything..

Then you would have to explain why your phone or device is wiped..

Just act dumb, that usually works.

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I know pretty much nothing about laws, but don't you need a warrant to search peoples phones/laptops?

not sure how it works with electronic devices but for homes, if they have reason to believe that you have criminal evidence that may be destroyed if they take the time to get a warrent then no.
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I live in the states and cross the boarder all the time, the Americans check my work visa and say have a nice day, the Canadian? Act like I'm some criminal mastermind that has fallen into their hands, the last time they detained me. I asked them, what exactly do you guys think I'm doing? What are you trying to accomplish here? The answer never came.

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I live in the states and cross the boarder all the time, the Americans check my work visa and say have a nice day, the Canadian? Act like I'm some criminal mastermind that has fallen into their hands, the last time they detained me. I asked them, what exactly do you guys think I'm doing? What are you trying to accomplish here? The answer never came.

The Canadian border guards have been super dicks to me too. The US guards have been super chill.

And I like the idea of having an app that brings you to a 'safe' mode on your phone with a certain passcode someone mentionmed above. I would also back up my phone on my computer before going out in case they did check, then just activate the delete function with too many failed attempts, spam 1 or something quickly. Also, remember you always have the right to remain silent, if they ask you fir your password, just tell them you're remaining silent. You are always entitled to silence. If you have nothing to hide, then they should no reason to check, they are just being dicks, so eff em.

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