US Government targets Cop City protester over phone operating system(www.theguardian.com)
52 pointsby pastemato4 hours ago5 comments
  • bdcravens2 hours ago
    "federal authorities had put him on a terrorism watchlist because of his alleged association with the movement against Cop City"

    Talk about burying the lede

    • Tyrubias44 minutes ago
      Burying the lede on what? The individual in question was being targeted in part because he was exercising his First Amendment right to protest environmental destruction and the militarization of police. I think if anything this makes it more disturbing. The US government has a long history of criminalizing movements they don't like as "terrorism".
      • numeri25 minutes ago
        You're agreeing with the person you responded to (bdcravens). Burying the lede means that bdcravens thinks the true headline should have been about being put on a terrorist watch list for protesting a police training camp, not about the phone.
  • m463an hour ago
    This is a technical problem.

    Instead of wiping and rebooting, it should wipe while showing a lame spreadsheet application, or possibly a grocery list.

    • woodruffw41 minutes ago
      I don’t think a judge would be impressed by this. If anything it actually makes the legal case easier: there’s a legitimate use for a wiping feature on a phone (e.g. for theft or tampering), but actively producing false information demonstrates an intent to deceive or mislead.
      • cherryteastain27 minutes ago
        Easier solution: phone wipes itself if passcode is not entered every X hours
    • Cider998618 minutes ago
      Or just don't wipe your phone and let the reboot timer do its work and bring your phone to BFU state, effectively uncrackable.
  • RetroTechie3 hours ago
    Sounds like a good reason to use alternatives like GrapheneOS. It doesn't take a big % of users to let the "using it is suspicious by itself" nonsense wear off.
    • Cider99863 hours ago
      It's already supported by Roblox:

      https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48994716

      2 days ago 87 comments

    • delfinom3 hours ago
      Not to worry, but big tech and government are slowly crafting laws that make non-big-tech operating systems illegal in the name of protecting children.
      • an hour ago
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  • ImJamal3 hours ago
    It looks like there are a lot of issues here on the government side, but it also appears like the protestor intentionally gave them a password that, when used, wipes the phone? That seems like a clear example of destruction of evidence.
    • JumpCrisscross3 hours ago
      > That seems like a clear example of destruction of evidence

      If he was under arrest, sure. The cops claiming this was a routine airport inspection would seem to muddy the waters, at least.

      • bootlooped3 hours ago
        I don't think the crime of destroying evidence / tampering with evidence depends on what your status in custody is. If the police knock on your front door and you start shredding documents, that's still a crime.

        Now, could that get tossed about because they denied him access to a lawyer? Maybe, I don't know about that part.

        • JumpCrisscross2 hours ago
          > If the police knock on your front door and you start shredding documents, that's still a crime

          Isn’t the relevant bit whether you think you’re doing crimes and/or being investigated?

          If I’m shredding while the cops knock on my door because they’re looking for a missing cat, that’s obviously not criminal. (I guess the more-pertinent comparison would be they knock on my door and then I put stuff in the shredder while I check around my home.)

          • ImJamal2 hours ago
            If you shred any evidence of a crime you are guilty of a crime regardless if the police ever knock at your door or you think you are being investigated if you have the intent "to prevent the apprehension or cause the wrongful apprehension of any person or to obstruct the prosecution or defense of any person, he knowingly destroys, alters, conceals, or disguises physical evidence or makes, devises, prepares, or plants false evidence"
            • mukbangpervertan hour ago
              You're jumping to conclusions.

              Deletion to protect privacy does not prove deletion to prevent apprehension.

              I could believe that everything is wholly innocent, but wish to protect privacy regardless.

              • ImJamalan hour ago
                If that was his intent he shouldn't have handed over any pin. This looks like he was hiding evidence of wrongdoing and he will probably be charged with it. I am guessing his only hope will be that they denied his request for a lawyer.
      • ImJamal2 hours ago
        Under Georgia law (16-10-94) you do not have to be under arrest.

        > A person commits the offense of tampering with evidence when, with the intent to prevent the apprehension or cause the wrongful apprehension of any person or to obstruct the prosecution or defense of any person, he knowingly destroys, alters, conceals, or disguises physical evidence or makes, devises, prepares, or plants false evidence

        • woodruffwan hour ago
          This would be under federal law, not Georgia law I believe. But even assuming it was under Georgia law: it hasn’t been entered into public evidence that the person in question knowingly destroyed anything. It’s entirely possible the phone had nothing of value on it; the prosecution is required to demonstrate that evidence was in fact destroyed or falsified.
          • JumpCrisscrossan hour ago
            > the prosecution is required to demonstrate that evidence was in fact destroyed or falsified

            Is this legally true? At least in civil matters, destroying evidence typically causes the worst to be assumed about whatever was destroyed.

            • woodruffwan hour ago
              I thought the standard for obtaining adverse/negative inference in a criminal case was higher than in a civil one, i.e. a judge will typically need more than just evidence that information was destroyed. But IANAL!
              • JumpCrisscross42 minutes ago
                Maybe you just get charged with destroying or tampering with evidence instead of the original charge? (Help us rayiner!)
    • kmoser2 hours ago
      It's too bad GrapheneOS doesn't support hidden volumes.
      • Cider9986an hour ago
        It can't because it runs on phones which only have SSDs which leave forensic traces. They would like to improve deniability but it must be robust, whatever they implement.
    • snypher3 hours ago
      Why do you think reporters would rather eat a contempt charge vs throwing their sources to the wolves?
    • kelseyfrog2 hours ago
      Technically that means the cops destroyed the evidence. Their investigatory department should be savvy enough to avoid destroying evidence.
      • ImJamal2 hours ago
        That is not how the law works. Under Georgia law (GA Code § 16-2-20) it says

        > (a) Every person concerned in the commission of a crime is a party thereto and may be charged with and convicted of commission of the crime

        >(b) A person is concerned in the commission of a crime only if he: (1) Directly commits the crime; (2) Intentionally causes some other person to commit the crime under such circumstances that the other person is not guilty of any crime either in fact or because of legal incapacity; (3) Intentionally aids or abets in the commission of the crime; or (4) Intentionally advises, encourages, hires, counsels, or procures another to commit the crime

        Seems like this is a clear case to me.

        • kelseyfrog23 minutes ago
          One weird trick to destroy evidence without creating a crime. Cops don't want you to know.
    • verdverm3 hours ago
      You do not have to give them your pin, by law. They can use biometrics to open your device, which is why you should not use biometrics for device unlocking.

      GraphenOS has a couple of settings, a distress pin that wipes the device, and a number of failed attempts that will wipe the device. If the person handed over their "pin", they didn't need to

  • 1attice3 hours ago
    Quick reminder to my fellows that if you discuss this story here, it will end up immutable and available to law enforcement and, e.g., H1B eligibility deciders.

    Dark forest

    • wblan hour ago
      Better to die on ones feet than live on ones knees.
      • 1attice14 minutes ago
        Some of us are on visa and have our online presence routinely scanned these days. Asymmetric vuln. If that's not you, why are you upset when it is acknowledged?
    • 3 hours ago
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