Georgia State University has rescinded a job offer given to a high profile activist who is currently fighting a case in which he allegedly wiped a security-focused Android phone before Customs and Border Protection (CBP) could search it. The case, which 404 Media first covered and has now received widespread and national attention, has important ramifications for privacy and when someone can still be charged with an offense even if authorities don’t have suspicion of any specific crime.
Earlier this month, activist Samuel Tunick and a group of supporters delivered a “demand letter” to the university. That letter, which Tunick shared with 404 Media, says he explained to the university he was facing a pending charge, which he describes as “an instance of textbook political repression, and a high profile civil liberties case.”
While delivering the letter, supporters held signs saying, “GSU sides with Trump,” and “Digital Privacy Under Attack!”
What of instead you finger print erased it? Your pin is the real unlock. And it always asks for the fingprint first but you have to press elsewhere to switch to pin mode.
Also it takes three fingerprint attempts, which look like they fail, to read, and on the third one the wipe happens.
You’d run into the same problem this guy is unless they forcefully took your fingerprint. He offered the code and they entered it, which i think would be different than them taking your hand and forcing you to place it on the phone.
right that’s sort of my thinking. since fingerprints are NOT currently protected by SCOTUS precedent, they can indeed compel you to provide it to unlock a phone. So, resist a little to make it look real, then let them try it and you can claim “I didn’t want to give you my finger print”
I’m not saying it’s perfect, but it’s harder to claim you did it on purpose since it’s wiped and they can’t prove* the pin option was the only safe option.
* Sure they can know it’s a graphene option because that’s public knowledge, but proving you enabled it vs. a standard 3-failed finger print attempts wipes the phone security setting.