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The US is charging an American citizen for wiping his phone at the border
The US government is prosecuting American citizen Sam Tunick after he allegedly gave federal agents a fake "duress password" that wiped his phone when they attempted to seize it at Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson airport. Prosecutors are relying on a rarely-used statute that criminalises destroying or damaging property to prevent its lawful seizure, in a case that raises questions about the limits of digital privacy rights at the US border and comes amid heightened scrutiny of travellers under the Trump administration.
Agents detained Tunick on 24th January 2025, allegedly questioning him about child exploitation images, though his lawyers argue this was a pretext to investigate his ties to Atlanta's Stop Cop City movement. He reportedly used a feature of the privacy-focused GrapheneOS to trigger the wipe by entering a duress code instead of his real passcode. His attorneys claim agents denied him a lawyer, produced no warrant and did not explain his rights, while the government counters that no warrant was needed since Tunick had not yet been formally admitted to the US. Privacy advocates, including the Atlanta Solidarity Fund's Marlon Kautz, argue the case underscores citizens' right to protect personal data from unconstitutional searches.
In short
- US citizen charged for wiping phone during airport seizure
- Case may involve activist surveillance, not stated child exploitation probe
- Raises questions over digital privacy rights at US borders
Steelman: both sides, in good faith
The strongest fair case each way — we don't pick a winner.
The case for
Prosecutors and border-security advocates argue that the law is being applied neutrally: intentionally destroying evidence to thwart a lawful seizure is a recognised offence regardless of the method used, and permitting a technological loophole (a "duress wipe") for digital devices would let travellers with genuinely illicit material evade legitimate customs and law-enforcement checks entirely. They point out that the border has long been treated as a zone of reduced privacy expectation, and that officers must be able to trust that a device presented to them is not being sabotaged in real time, since undermining that trust would make border searches meaningless.
The case against
Civil liberties advocates and privacy defenders counter that Tunick's actions amount to lawfully protecting his own data from what they see as an unconstitutional search, since Americans have a right to decline self-incrimination and to safeguard sensitive personal information, particularly when no warrant was produced and access to counsel was allegedly denied. They argue prosecuting someone for using a privacy tool as designed sets a chilling precedent, especially given claims that the child-exploitation questioning was pretextual and the real motive was scrutiny of his activism, raising fears that digital self-defence is being criminalised to punish dissent.
Explained simply
American citizen Sam Tunick is being prosecuted after federal agents at Atlanta airport in January 2025 claim he used his phone's security feature to erase it when they attempted to seize it. His phone ran GrapheneOS, a privacy-focused operating system that can be configured to destroy its data if a specially-designated "duress password" is entered. Prosecutors allege he deliberately triggered this erasure to prevent government access to the device.
The government is charging Tunick under a law that criminalises destroying property to prevent its lawful seizure. His lawyers dispute that the seizure was lawful, arguing agents detained him without a warrant, refused him a lawyer, and did not explain his rights. The government counters that no warrant was required because Tunick had not yet been formally admitted to the United States at the time.
The case raises fundamental questions about what privacy rights American citizens possess when crossing borders. Border agents commonly request access to travellers' devices, but the legal status of whether citizens can resist this—particularly through technical means—remains contested. The case has drawn attention from privacy advocates who worry that prosecuting device destruction could discourage citizens from protecting their personal information during border crossings.
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