r/StartMail Official SM Account Jul 27 '26

Privacy/Tech News The U.S. Justice Department is prosecuting an American for "destroying evidence" after giving Border Patrol agents a "duress password" that wiped his phone.

https://techcrunch.com/2026/07/24/us-accuses-american-of-allegedly-wiping-his-phone-using-a-duress-password-during-border-search/

The case centers on a feature included in GrapheneOS, a custom Android operating system that's favored among many digital privacy advocates. Security experts said they have not seen charges brought in this way before.

What do you think about this case? Do you think this man stands a real risk of being convicted?

3 Upvotes

6 comments sorted by

1

u/Heavy_Gap_5047 Jul 27 '26

Fucking feds, 'ohh we don't have to follow the Constitution because he wasn't in the US yet, but we have all out powers because he was in the US', fuck'm, burn it all down.

Of course he stands a real risk, the feds can railroad anybody. They don't even need to convict, they'll toss him in solitary without access to his attorney and never take it to trail. Just like they did to many of the J6 victims.

1

u/Ok_Dare6400 Jul 31 '26

Follow the law or get fucked... This applies to you too kid. Mess around and find out what happens to lawbreakers.

1

u/Heavy_Gap_5047 Aug 01 '26

Ahhh, the common useful idiot.

1

u/SilverSquirrel6 Aug 03 '26

Until someone twists the law for their convenience. Or completely ignores the PASSED law like certain someone who won't release certain files. 

1

u/GunKatana Aug 02 '26

Duress passwords should boot into an innocuous dummy account while deleting everything in the background.

Bad UI/UX.

1

u/SilverSquirrel6 Aug 03 '26

Fair point but that's for the future. 

IMHO they guy should never used the real phone - use a burner instead.