AU Border Force searched 822 phones in 2021 despite no power to demand passcodes | Hacker News Reader

AU Border Force searched 822 phones in 2021 despite no power to demand passcodes

theguardian.com

27 pointsprawn7 comments

A comment I've made elsewhere is that Android (stock, not rooted) currently seems to lack what iPhones can do: a "dump" which can be restored. (happy to be told it can be done. Would love to know how, preferrably not demanding rooted phone)

Backup to cloud is not the same. Some apps don't honour cloud backup of e.g. game play so you lose levels. Thats trivial, but noticable.

2FA using the trust store I believe do not come back the same after a wipe. If same h/w is needed (at least one bank I am using puts something into the TPM) then you can disconnect from your 2FA requirement using 'restore' paths at present on Android (happy to be corrected)

A burner phone is probably safest, but sometimes the borderline of what to put or not put on the burner phone is a bit confusing. If you e.g. don't put the banking 2FA then its a time-zone call home, to ask an SO to press the buttons for you.

I was a frequent traveller, I've never been asked to present an electronic device, and I haven't yet worked out my own posture here regarding data minimisation across the borders.

Aspects of this story echo with how CBP in the US operate. here in Australia Its quasi-illegal or questionable to ask for unlock, and they can keep the device for unreasonably long periods or mark you non-compliant, or use discretionary powers so you become the random victimised person easily. There is a huge asymmetry at the border, even your own home nation state can be rather arbitrary if you are one side, seeking to go to the other side. This isn't about 'only bad people have reason to fear' either. Most people are going to give in and unlock, because it's just an intimidatingly easier path.

Usually, the reason people state it's needed is KP or AML. Both are real problems, but account for a tiny percentage of devices seized as I understand it. I would be very surprised if all 800+ cases here had good reason to be suspected in either case, for KP/AML. Some probably did.

I'm not trying to be snarky, but I don't know how you could miss the backup feature[1] of iTunes (now built into Finder on Mac), given it's been a feature of the iPhone ecosystem well before iCloud was even a thing.

You are right that data in the Secure Enclave (e.g. TouchID / FaceID) is not backed up. Developers also have the ability since iOS 5 to mark certain data to be excluded from backup. But other than this the local backup is a complete dump of the device.

[1] https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT203977

I said ANDROID. can you explain how backup in iTunes can back up my phone? My lead sentence is A comment I've made elsewhere is that Android (stock, not rooted) currently seems to lack what iPhones can do: a "dump" which can be restored.

Android Lacks.. What iPhone can do.

Would you like to re-consider your comment?

You're right, I read your sentence completely backwards to your meaning and I apologise.

Heh. I should have said it simplerer. So I'll take a hit on "plain English is better"

This may come as a shock to many who use 2FA and have 15 digit passcodes like me, but a lot of people don't have any sort of lock on their phones.

Citizens are suspects, and tourists are terrorists.

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