Obviously he is an international spy who smuggled government property that was full of Top secret classified information. They should have checked his phone before he had a chance to sell out America. What kind of name is Bikkannavar anyways? Sound like a commie to me.

Welcome back to America.

Go away.

We've known we weren't welcome for decades now.

My understanding is that they'll semi-randomly pull people out for spot checks. Single guys travelling alone for extended periods are more likely to get tapped. The fastest and easiest way for you to show customs officials you are not lying is to let them cross check against your online presence / electronic communications.

They have the authority to examine a phone with NASA data on it, or corporate data, or whatever. They were not correct in implying that he was legally forced to unlock his phone for them, but the shittiness of the Verge article does not make it clear if this was actually the case.

(And seriously, this is why the Verge is not a reliable media outlet despite desperately trying. This sounds like a completely routine thing that would have happened countless times in the last 8 years: you got spot checked you, you get your digs searched, hand over your phone, you are back on your way in 40 minutes. That is all that happened to this guy... the sum total of his "ordeal". That's even happened to me once - and I'm Whitey McWhiteface.)

I've been personally spot checked by CBP before. This is *not* how it normally occurs.

I too have been held, got checked out with 2 machines and was cut loose. This sort of escalated response is inappropriate.

They were not correct in implying that he was legally forced to unlock his phone for them, but the shittiness of the Verge article does not make it clear if this was actually the case.

Uh, no. Men with guns cannot make a request. The presence of weapons, not to mention the physical confinement, makes it coercion.

They have the authority to examine a phone with NASA data on it, or corporate data, or whatever.

No, they absolutely do not. It's pretty clear that NASA did not grant them that authority, nor am I aware of any corporation that has issued such an exception.

This really terrifies me. If I were in his shoes, I would be legally obligated to refuse, and call them on their threats.

I don't think CBP agents in airports are generally armed, but they are uniformed authority figures. And the thing is, for people in the process of border entry they do wield significant, unchecked authority. NASA can maybe lodge an official complaint, but otherwise there's really not much they can do about it.

Directly, no, but anyone who does open their phone to a border agent is technically going to be in breach on non-disclosure issues. NASA very well could prosecute.

It's especially worrying for non-Americans, because CBP agents don't actually have jurisdiction. To legally access my phone, they would have to go to a Canadian court, and I don't have the authority to grant it.

Who would NASA prosecute? The guy with the phone? At worst they'll just take it away and reprimand him for taking an official phone with sensitive data on a personal overseas trip.

As for CBP, they have pretty wide latitude over people- especially non-citizens at border checkpoints. Sure, you could refuse them access to your phone, and then they would simply deny you entry and send you back to the frozen Canadian tundra.

NASA probably wouldn't do so, and he probably has at least implicit permission to take his phone, but I could see some company, somewhere, doing it.

That's the thing, I'd be legally obligated to refuse. I think for the moment I'll leave my phone behind for short trips, and do a factory reset for longer ones. I can always resync after crossing.

CPB are law enforcement. They don't need to go check with Ford to see if it's okay to look at your Ford-issued phone, they don't need to go check with NASA to see if it's okay to look at your NASA-issued phone. They have the permission granted already. It comes with the uniform if you will.

You have the right to refuse to unlock your phone for them, and they don't have the authority to force you to do it. They do, of course, have the authority and ability to make life relatively unpleasant for you if you don't.

That's not generally the case. If it's a Ford issued phone, they'll generally need either Ford's permission, or a warrant.

And, of course, when they're doing it to a foreign national they aren't law enforcement. They have no more authority than a private citizen, as they're acting outside their jurisdiction.

I thought the fastest and easiest way for you to show customs officials you are not lying was supposed to be your fucking Global Entry membership, not violating your privacy to allow CBP access to information they don't actually need to see.

I haven't signed up for GE on principle: it creates a class system that I'm not interested in validating. Clearly, it doesn't necessarily work, either.

This doesn't surprise me. My father-in-law is a native born US citizen. He married an EU citizen and lives most of the year in Austria with his wife. He maintains a home in the US as well, which he comes back to for baseball season every year. This year, his wife's visa (for a visit only, she's not applying for school or employment in the US) was rejected so he isn't coming back for baseball this year.

I paid $90 for Global Entry. If this happened to me I'd demand my money back. Not that I'd expect them to comply.

Being a natural-born US citizen, a Global Entry member, and a NASA scientist is a pretty ingenious cover for a terrorist.

Muslims are clever that way. They'll stop at nothing to hate your freedoms.

Heh - I was thinking that at point, 99 percent of all terrorists would probably be "screw this suicide bombing shit - I'll get a regular job and adopt a bourgeois lifestyle now."