What a newsroom police raid teaches us about encrypting our devices
Summary
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The Marion County Record newsroom in Kansas was raided by police, who seized two cellphones, four computers, a backup hard drive, and reporting materials.
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A computer seized was most likely unencrypted. Law enforcement officials hope that devices seized during a raid are unencrypted, as this makes them easier to examine.
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Modern iPhones and Android phones are encrypted by default, but older devices may not be.
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Desktop computers typically do not have encryption enabled by default, so it is important to turn this on manually.
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Use strong random passwords and keep them in a password manager.
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During the raid, police seized a single backup hard drive. It is important to have multiple backups of your data in case one is lost or stolen.
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You can encrypt USB storage devices using BitLocker To Go on Windows, or Disk Utility on macOS.
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All major desktop operating systems support Veracrypt, which can be used to encrypt entire drives.
Main Take-aways
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Encrypt your devices, drives, and USBs.
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Use strong random passwords and password manager.
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Have multiple backups.
Similarly when you cross a border... you don't have to give them you password, but they can just keep you for a few days. Also note:
https://esfandilawfirm.com/can-police-unlock-your-phone/
They can also kill you where you stand with total impunity, so I'm not sure I see how these limitations of their supposed rights are at all meaningful.
Law enforcement routinely makes demands that are intentionally impossible to comply with, such as the deadly game of Simon Says that was played by the officers who murdered Daniel Shaver.
It's like a cat playing with its prey. The prey is not intended to survive.
It's layers on an onion. Every extralegal step they take provides a possible mitigation if you go to trial.
Obviously, if they straight up murder somebody, that's a whole different problem. But in general, you should invoke your rights at every step of the process, so that if they trample over those rights you'll have an argument in court to get evidence or charges thrown out.