Technology

Idr if this was a feature that made it into a real OS or just a concept that never came to be, but...

I recall reading about a duress pin that instead of deleting stuff, just booted up normally... but to basically a separate user profile. From the non-duress profile you could choose features that would be shared between the two, like texts or call history of specific people, browser history, photo albums, etc.

So "sure officer, it's 5224" would open up a phone profile that looks convincingly used, with nice long trails of cat memes and chatter with your gaming buddies about your favorite franchise enshittifying, and so on.

Punch in your real pin to unlock it though, and it's got full access to everything, including data you want to keep private.

...and, uh, if any of you are designing a mobile OS right now, here's your feature suggestion!

Prosecuted for what, exactly? If push comes to shove, it's a fifth amendment issue.

I didn't know android could do that. I wanna turn one on! But, I can't find it. I've looked under Security and Privacy. I have a pattern to get in (they can physically force you to unlock your phone with fingerprints), no facial recognition, and my security and privacy is all green checkmarks. I've tried to find it under my Samsung account's security stuff. Its not there. It doesn't even show up when I search for it on the settings search bar. What am I missing?

I use Android 16 and have OneUI 8.5.

The charge treats the alleged wipe as destruction of property intended to prevent a government seizure.

He is being charged with destroying "evidence" but he was never charged with anything in the first place. That is like saying deleting any files at home is a crime. I'd think forcing you to present evidence necessary to charge you with something would fall under the constitutional right against self-incrimination.

I'm half-expecting for it to turn out that he was being wholly compliant, and he's being accused of destruction of evidence because they were looking for something that never existed to begin with.

1. get a phone with a removable battery and wireless charging
2. break the USB port
3. pull out the battery before crossing the border

sorry, my phone is dead and won't hold a charge.

• nothing untrue about that statement
• state of the phone was a preexisting condition and cannot be used to apply obstruction charges

Write the duress PIN on a piece of paper in your wallet. Someone searching your phone is probably also searching your wallet and may try the PIN.

If the duress pin makes obvious it's the duress pin then it's not really doing its job. It should instead open a profile with not much in it while erasing the other profile and files in the background.

From reading up on the laws and if what this article says is true, even if they unlocked his phone and found evidence of crimes on it, gods case would be kicked to the curb as it was all an illegal search and correct procedures weren’t followed.

My understanding is you can't actually be forced (legally) to give up your phone's PIN or password as part of a police search, because it violates the 5th amendment against self-incrimination, even at the border. Now will they still find a way to fuck up your day if you refuse to unlock your phone, sure, but I feel like saying "I have a right under the 5th Amendment to not reveal my password" is going to be a lot easier to defend than "I intentionally wiped/locked/bricked my phone when you asked to look through it."