personal information

[akis_t]

I was discussing the idea of storing personal and private data on a small portable device, made specifically for that reason. For purposes of this question, it could also be a small smartphone, tablet, laptop, or even a pen+paper notepad. Something where a person can store sensitive information and secrets, like bank account details, passwords, telephone numbers and so on.

A suggestion was made that law enforcement and customs officials could stop a person carrying such a device and copy all the data and request all the passwords in order to unlock the device.

I find this a bit far fetched but does anyone know?

thanks

 

[justalayman]

A suggestion was made that law enforcement and customs officials could stop a person carrying such a device and copy all the data and request all the passwords in order to unlock the device.

if encrypted properly it would be very difficult, if not impossible for the data to be retrieved by unauthorized sources but without encryption, well, you might want to read about what customs agents can do with laptops coming through from out of the country and what the police in MI have purchased that allowed them to download everything from a cellphone very very rapidly.

 

[quincy]

... A suggestion was made that law enforcement and customs officials could stop a person carrying such a device and copy all the data and request all the passwords in order to unlock the device.

I find this a bit far fetched but does anyone know? ...

I guess we will soon find out how "far fetched" it is.

The U.S. Supreme Court is currently hearing two cases (Riley v California and United States v Wurie) that should decide the issue. Following are three links, the first links to the two cases mentioned, and the third link to an article that discusses the two cases, written by Amy Howe for SCOTUSBLOG (April 28, 2014, 10:17 pm) and titled "Court takes on cellphone privacy for arrestees: In Plain English."

http://www.scotusblog.com/case-files/cases/riley-v-california/

http://www.scotusblog.com/case-files/cases/united-states-v-wurie/

http://www.scotusblog.com/2014/04/court-takes-on-cell-phone-privacy-for-arrestees-in-plain-english

You may want to wait to see what happens with these before storing all of your personal information on your small portable device.