> He said the officer then confiscated his phone and laptop, and told him the items would be sent to a government lab which would try to crack his passwords and search his files.
Hopefully they were powered down and used proper full-disk encryption.
Hopefully they were powered down and used proper full-disk encryption.
But many people don't use a strong password/phrase.
When I travel out of the country, I reset my phone and Chromebook to their factory defaults and then provision a decoy account. Once I'm across the border, I provision my primary account.
Even if they image my devices, all they'll get is old encrypted garbage for which the key is unavailable because the key was rendered inaccessible when the device was reset to factory defaults.
I am wondering if it would be possible to leverage remote wipe features, but maybe the border agents power off the device or put it in a bag / container that blocks cellular signals.
Law enforcement has tools like Cellebrite and GrayKey that can unlock or extract data while the phone is powered on but locked.
Apple is making this a bit more difficult by disabling the port if the phone hasn't been unlocked for seven days or more, but if the device is powered on and law enforcement acts fast, it's vulnerable.
https://ios.gadgethacks.com/news/heres-apples-stopping-polic...
Look at it this way. Suppose the seizure of the phone was totally reasonable (because that is how they will think about it). Now, that suspected criminal who apparently had something to hide decided to remotely tamper with evidence after we lawfully detained it? That is subversion of justice!
The above is an argument I'd expect to hear from them.
What exactly is full-disk encryption? How do I do it the way a government lab won't be able to crack it?