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Comment by trutannus | Hacker News Reader

> but in the background runs scripts to clean up sensitive data, close connections to other networks to limit lateral movement

Oh boy. Don't do this. No matter how much trouble you're in, erasing the proof will make it worse. If you're innocent too, then you're really in a bad situation.

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Could you elaborate? This sounds like an “if you’re innocent you have nothing to hide” argument which I categorically disagree with.

More like, “Deleting data can be used against you.”

Gotcha, so nothing to do with the actual data (you didn't specify which kind just "data") but the mere act. So it's a problem with the legislation as we already knew.

Invasive and surveillance-based legislation.

What? No; if you delete data, there’s no way to know what was on it, so if you’re reasonably suspected of committing a crime, there’s no way to know if you also hid the evidence of that crime.

Even blowing away relevant data like file structures, cookies that would prove your innocence would typically be considered spoliation or destruction of evidence. Even if the evidence is "Joe is innocent". So you could end up creating a felony out of a situation where you would have ended with nothing. If you did nothing, don't touch anything.

If you wipe your already clean device, you've now engaged in real criminality, and will end up creating charged out of thin air for yourself.

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