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.