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Washington Post Raid Is a Frightening Reminder: Turn Off Your Phone’s Biometrics Now (theintercept.com)
submitted 7 months ago by to c/privacy@lemmy.ml
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The recent federal raid on the home of Washington Post reporter Hannah Natanson isn’t merely an attack by the Trump administration on the free press. It’s also a warning to anyone with a smartphone.

Included in the search and seizure warrant for the raid on Natanson’s home is a section titled “Biometric Unlock,” which explicitly authorized law enforcement personnel to obtain Natanson’s phone and both hold the device in front of her face and to forcibly use her fingers to unlock it. In other words, a judge gave the FBI permission to attempt to bypass biometrics: the convenient shortcuts that let you unlock your phone by scanning your fingerprint or face.-

It is not clear if Natanson used biometric authentication on her devices, or if the law enforcement personnel attempted to use her face or fingers to unlock her devices. Natanson and the Washington Post did not respond to multiple requests for comment. The FBI declined to comment.

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[–] 6 points 7 months ago

100% it's always a question of your resources vs theirs, but you're dead on to make it harder.

I'll just add to also turn it off, pull the SIM, and show in a Faraday bag on your way back too. If the recent reporting about ICE buying location data from ad networks shows anything, it's that they are interested in a capability of following people to and from protests. Graphene should obviate this by disabling Google Play services by default anyway.

You should leave your regular phone at home, go to another place, power on your other device, speak your part in public, then travel another location and power off. This provides no consistent start or end location to work with for a particular device.

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