Comment by jrandm | Hacker News Reader

Comment by jrandm | Hacker News Reader

Why doesn't everyone simply refuse to share passwords, as is mentioned numerous times on various Canadian government websites? Basic search finds tons of pages from all sorts of departments https://www.canada.ca/en/sr/srb.html?q=share+password

A few samples

> 95% [of polled Candians] know not to share their passwords

https://www.getcybersafe.gc.ca/cnt/rsrcs/vds/nln-sft-stck-p/...

> don’t share your PIN, password or personal security questions and answers with anyone, not even family members

https://www.canada.ca/en/financial-consumer-agency/services/...

> If you’ve shared passwords with friends, now would be a good time to change them

https://www.getcybersafe.gc.ca/cnt/blg/pst-20180913-en.aspx

> Protect your password, don’t write it down or share it with anyone and change it often

https://www.canada.ca/en/employment-social-development/progr...

A few days of every single traveler saying "no" would force them to either begin seizing all electronic devices or to drop the entire endeavor as untenable. This problem doesn't need a technical solution beyond making sure locked devices are actually secure.

Because border police have authority

Could you elaborate on that thought?

Individuals also have the authority to assert their rights, one of which in Canada is the freedom from unreasonable search and seizure[0]. R v Fearon[1] places limitations on this exact type of search one could easily argue aren't met given the descriptions of these searches I've read.

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Section_8_of_the_Canadian_Char...

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R_v_Fearon

You don't have any rights at the border. The moment they decide to search you they will ask for your passwords. If you don't give it, they'll detain you until you do.

What if you do not know the password for the computer (e.g. if you are transporting someone else's computer, or because it is damaged and need to be repaired), or if it is time locked?

Then I’d assume it would be confiscated like what happened to this lawyer.

> You don't have any rights at the border.

This is, to the best of my knowledge, factually untrue.

> Canadian courts have generally recognized that people have reduced expectations of

> privacy at border points. In this context, privacy and other Charter rights continue to apply

> but are limited by state imperatives of national sovereignty, immigration control, taxation

> and public safety and security. The Canadian courts have not yet ruled on whether a

> border officer can compel a person to turn over their password and on what grounds, so

> that their electronic device may be searched at a border crossing.

https://www.priv.gc.ca/en/privacy-topics/public-safety-and-l...

It goes on to specify that while the law is unclear, an unpublished Canada Border Services Agency policy states searches "should not be conducted as a matter of routine; such searches may be conducted only if there are grounds or indications that “evidence of contraventions may be found on the digital device or media.”" [nested quotes sic from page, presumably from this unpublished policy]

IANAL (nor Canadian) but the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and the Customs Act, and probably many more documents and judicial rulings, define the rights available to anyone crossing the Canadian border. CBSA policy may not be legal, and only by exercising their rights and refusing to cooperate with illegal orders will citizens be able to affect change.

Many brave people in the past have risked detainment, property seizure, and worse in order to protect the civil rights of millions of others. Apparently, in regard to safeguarding personal data privacy, this is again necessary.

The Charter is an embarrassment/joke -> see not withstanding clause.

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