Border Security

VicPaul

With the information that border security can make us unlock phones, can they force us to unlock the Password Vault?

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VicPaul

Is there a way to protect ourselves from Border Security demanding access to the password vault?

Ben

Hi @VicPaul,

Thanks for taking the time to write in. We aren’t in a position to answer legal questions or say what a particular country’s border control may or may not do, but I can say that 1Password has some tools that can help, most notably Travel Mode:

Use Travel Mode to remove vaults from your devices when you travel

I hope that helps! Thanks.

Ben

AlwaysSortaCurious

There are discussions that biometric locks don't have the same constitutional protections (at least here in the States) as the master password you keep in your head. hello, fingerprint readers, face recognition at the border, well, the rules seem to change.

https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2017/09/can-cops-force-you-to-unlock-your-phone-with-your-face/539694/

This extra layer of protection may be especially useful at the U.S. border, writes Nicholas Weaver, a computer-security researcher at the International Computer Science Institute in Berkeley, in Lawfare. Taking advantage of a broad exception at the border to the Fourth Amendment, which protects against warrantless searches, border agents regularly look through passengers’ devices as they enter or even exit the country. Often, they copy the entire contents of a device to a computer using forensic software, where they can scan it thoroughly for keywords or contacts.

But at the border, the Fifth Amendment also isn’t always honored the way it would be elsewhere. Agents have shown that they’re more than willing to ask passengers for their phone PINs, which would nullify the protection of iOS 11’s extra password prompt.

AGAlumB

Indeed, each of us needs to use security precautions appropriate for our personal threat models. For example, if you're James Bond, you probably don't want to use biometrics since Goldfinger can just have his henchmen tie you up and use your finger, or tape his eyes open and unlock with his face.

I am not James Bond. So I use biometrics and simply enable Travel Mode so I don't have sensitive stuff on my devices when crossing borders. :tongue:

In most cases, you'll probably be asked for things. And, depending on the relative pros and cons of doing so, you can choose to refuse. But for each of us that's not something anyone else can decide for us, since the consequences are our own.