Don't bring sensitive data to a border crossing

Link: US government targets Cop City protester over phone operating system, by Timothy Pratt in The GuardianThis is worth knowing about and is concerning — but not necessarily for the main reason that’s being reported.The Department of Justice is trying to prosecute Sam Tunick, an Atlanta-based activist, for allegedly using a duress password on his GrapheneOS phone when he crossed the border in January 2025.“Agent Findley and several others repeatedly asked Tunick to open his phone during the interrogation, telling him they would seize it if he did not. When he finally provided a passcode, “the screen went blank, flashed several times and the phone appeared to restart”, according to the motion.”The phone was wiped. According to the Department of Justice, rather than the usual unlock password, the one Tunick had provided was a signal that GrapheneOS should reset the device to factory settings. That’s the core issue: it’s not that he was using GrapheneOS or had set up a duress password,…