All travellers know, or ought to know, that they must abide by the laws of the country they are in, or are about to enter.
But laws keep on changing and it’s hard to keep up. So you may not know that some countries now can require you to take what is inelegantly described as a “digital strip search”.
New Zealand is the latest country to allow such searches under a law that includes fines of up to NZ$5000 for people who refuse to allow access to their phones or other devices by producing a password, swipe sequence or fingerprint.
“It is a file-by-file [search] on your phone. We’re not going into ‘the cloud’. We’ll examine your phone while it’s on flight mode,” Customs spokesperson Terry Brown told Radio NZ.
However, Civil Liberties spokesperson Thomas Beaver called it an unjustified invasion of privacy, saying: “Nowadays we’ve got everything on our phones; we’ve got all our personal life, all our doctors’ records, our emails, absolutely everything on it, and Customs can take that and keep it.”
The truth is, as I’ve noted here before, we have no right to privacy when we travel. Customs officials have long had the right to go through our bags, and even search our bodies.
Israeli officials have long been asking visitors for passwords to their email accounts, and US officials have reportedly made similar requests. The situation in Australia is unclear. It seems that the authorities can seize your phone but not force you to divulge your passwords.
There’s no doubt that more countries will implement such laws.
Is a “digital strip search” going too far? Or is it just part of the price you pay to travel?
Hahaha!!! The contents of my phone would give any borderforce agent a seriously good night’s sleep.