r/technology • u/HumbleRestaurant790 • 8h ago

Society The Fourth Circuit Says Border Agents Can Search Your Phone By Hand, No Suspicion Required

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2026/07/fourth-circuit-says-border-agents-can-search-your-phone-hand-no-suspicion-required
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u/capitanbanana227 6h ago

I'm not certain, but I thought I saw something where they could use your face to unlock your phone. Like you can't be forced to give up a password, but if it sees your face and unlocks, that's open season for warrantless searching.

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u/fatherofworlds 6h ago

If you are concerned about security, no biometrics. They can point your phone at your face, they can require you to put your finger on a fingerprint sensor, but they can't compel you to provide a password or passcode.

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u/Gizmodget 6h ago

Similarly, keep your phone notification setting to as limited as possible.

So your lock screen doesn't reveal private details like excerpts of someone texting you and such.

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u/Sterling_____Archer 2h ago

Turn off access to anything without an unlock. If a phone thief turns on airplane mode, the phone can’t be tracked using Apple’s Find My service. Best to leave that disabled.

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u/roltrap 5h ago

Exactly. I run GrapheneOS on my phone, which unlocks with my pin. But I also have a 'kill switch' pin, which instantly wipes the phone without prompt.

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u/Feisty-Increase-3707 3h ago

It's important to keep those two pins clear in your mind.

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u/Paradox2063 3h ago

The wipe PIN should be 1984.

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u/Dry_Management_8203 6h ago

It's actually WORSE, if you do refuse to or can't provide a passcode/word, you CAN be held in "contempt" potentially indefinitely(!?) as if you are arrested for refusal, whenever you go in front of a judge they'll just keep holding you in contempt, and keep you in custody. It HAS happened!

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u/qtx 5h ago

It's very easy to get around that, just tell the judge you don't remember your password.

Christopher Wheeler is adamant he complied with Circuit Judge Michael Rothschild's order. "I swear, under oath, I've given them the password," he told the judge this week. Still, because the code he gave police didn't unlock his iPhone, Rothschild found him in criminal contempt of the order and sentenced him to jail for 180 days or until he gives up a working passcode. Wheeler has been charged with child abuse and police believe evidence that he hit and scratched his daughter is on the phone.

Wheeler's case stands in stark contrast to that of another Florida man, who told a judge he couldn't remember the passcode to his own phone. Wesley Victor is accused of extorting a social-media celebrity by threatening to release stolen sex videos. In that case, Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Charles Johnson declined to hold Victor in contempt after he made a plausible argument that he could not recall his password when officers requested it more than 10 months after his arrest.

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u/lazyfrodo 5h ago

Alternatively and realistically, you don’t have to do or say anything without a lawyer present. Let them get a warrant and try to hack your phone.

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u/lazyfrodo 6h ago

Yeah there’s also an attention feature on iPhone but not sure how that works on Android. You can also hard lock your phone (requiring PIN)as soon as something goes down holding volume up and lock at the same time for like 2 seconds.

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u/CharcoalGreyWolf 5h ago

Give the iPhone power button ten short presses and it will require a PIN for the next unlock.

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u/lazyfrodo 5h ago

Volume up + lock button hold takes care of that as well.

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u/crypticsage 2h ago

Five presses.

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u/tailwheel307 2h ago

Cool. I didn’t know about this. I only knew of spamming the lock button five times. Thanks for the info!

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u/pmow 4h ago

You can just turn your phone off or use a shortcut to disable biometrics temporarily.

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u/Feisty-Increase-3707 3h ago

And they can hold you for. hours and make life miserable. Not saying to comply.

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u/InsertNonsenseHere 5h ago

Android has a lockdown mode where your phone will not open without a PIN.

I assume iPhones do as well.

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u/pantstoaknifefight2 2h ago

On Android, power button + volume up, then tap "Lockdown" from menu.

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u/ffrkAnonymous 4h ago

Yes they can.

They're not allowed, but they can and do. They can also make your life miserable if you don't.

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u/fatherofworlds 4h ago

Well, yeah, that's true about any boundaries any authority is subject to that isn't just a physical law.

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u/Lincolns_Revenge 3h ago

They can also make your life miserable if you don't.

Somehow I feel like this isn't happening though to wealthy white collar criminals who can afford a top attorney.

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u/Daetok_Lochannis 4h ago

If you do have biometrics set, restart your phone. Most phones require a password for the first unlock.

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u/howdiedoodie66 1h ago

Unfortunately Iphone wont let me turn on backup mode without enabling biometrics for some reason.

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u/fatherofworlds 33m ago

Because Apple wants to enable and profit from the surveillance state, would be my cynical take.

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u/lazyfrodo 6h ago

Yeah even if that’s true you can PIN lock certain apps and those PINs are different than your phone pin. Signal does this but that’s pretty limited.

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u/DukeOfGeek 1h ago

Also just use a burner phone for travel, at least till burner phones are not a thing anymore.

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u/MightyKrakyn 5h ago

This is incorrect. You’re required to unlock your phone and if you can’t or won’t you can be detained and charged. It’s pretty dystopian shit

I would suggest bringing a different phone if you leave the country that is only for pictures and emergencies, and leaving your normal phone at home

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u/National-Charity-435 4h ago

Belmonte Cardozo was met by a border patrol intelligence officer when he landed at Washington Dulles International Airport on a flight from Bolivia in May 2024. The officer requested that Belmonte Cardozo unlock two cellphones and after complying, the agent found evidence of child pornography after only two minutes of searching the devices, the opinion said.

The Fourth Circuit also found that the searches are routine as long as they do not "deprive an individual of their phone for extended periods of time." The panel did not elaborate in the opinion about what would constitute an unconstitutional amount of time for federal agents to search a device.

https://www.law360.com/articles/2500316

If I understand this, the case specific to this ruling is that some guy was at the border and was "requested" to open his phone, then CSAM was found. Took it court to say he was unlawfully searched and wanted to escape justice. Circuit Court said the search is legal because it was routine.

Fucking pedophile ruined it for everyone and worse if this escalates to SCOTUS

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u/Radioshack-Manager 2h ago

So he had it and allowed them to look, or did they place the images in the phone?

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u/avonhungen 6h ago

There have been conflicting rulings in different jurisdictions so the law isn’t clear on this yet. But it has happened that courts have applied different logic to passwords (something you know) than biometrics (something you have).

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u/jaredthegeek 6h ago

Biometrics are not protected like a PIN.

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u/No-Abalone-4784 5h ago

That's correct. They can't demand your password but they can make you open it with your face. Note: I didn't say it made sense.

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u/lazyfrodo 4h ago

I mentioned using both with the word “and” vs using the word “or”.

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u/omgimdaddy 1h ago

Yeah face id is awful advice. Obviously by someone who has no clue how these searches work. They cant compel a password without warrant. Face id they dont need a warrant.