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Comment by CaliforniaKarl | Hacker News Reader

According to https://www.counterterrorism.police.uk/wp-content/uploads/20... point 59, it's legal for UK authorities to get information from electronic devices, and the device owner must unlock the device for the authorities.

So, in the context of this UK-focused article, you're giving people advice on how to evade a search that, in the UK, is legal.

Instead, I would suggest advocating for UK people and businesses to change the law.

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There’s no way the law will be changed. Both major parties support it and have done for decades. Fear and being tough wins votes, and even if it didn’t, what’s the point of being in power if you can’t jail a few dissidents?

The only thing that politicians are afraid of is the media, and British people are sheep who follow the prevailing media narrative. If you want to change the law in Britain: buy a newspaper publisher.

Yes, the Murdoch owned newspapers use moral panic to get these draconian laws passed. And it's been going on for decades. That is how our civil liberties are destroyed here in the UK.

It's an almost symbiotic relationship with the government.

It was more of a question I was curious about, than advice. I see how it could be read as advice. It made think of the ~4 days I was in bed with covid I didn't use my phone at all and the first time I did I kept getting the passcode wrong. Once it got to a high enough number I started to worry I was about to unintentionally erase my phone.

That made me think if I were in that position to hand over or unlock a device, I could imagine the stress of the situation causing errors or even wiping the device. I imagine would be hard to prove intent but probably more difficult to prove it was unintentional as well

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