A US-born NASA scientist was detained at the border until he unlocked his phone

[brooklynite]

Source: The Verge

Two weeks ago, Sidd Bikkannavar flew back into the United States after spending a few weeks abroad in South America. An employee of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), Bikkannavar had been on a personal trip, pursuing his hobby of racing solar-powered cars. He had recently joined a Chilean team, and spent the last weeks of January at a race in Patagonia.

Bikkannavar is a seasoned international traveller — but his return home to the US this time around was anything but routine. Bikkannavar left for South America on January 15th, under the Obama Administration. He flew back from Santiago, Chile to the George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston, Texas on Monday, January 30th, just over a week into the Trump Administration.

Bikkannavar says he was detained by US Customs and Border Patrol and pressured to give the CBP agents his phone and access PIN. Since the phone was issued by NASA, it may have contained sensitive material that wasn’t supposed to be shared. Bikkannavar’s phone was returned to him after it was searched by CBP, but he doesn’t know exactly what information officials might have taken from the device.



Read more: http://www.theverge.com/2017/2/12/14583124/nasa-sidd-bikkannavar-detained-cbp-phone-search-trump-travel-ban

[Recursion]

1. Holy shit

Whoa whoa whoa whoa

That leapfrogged about 18 lines really really fast.

[hardluck]

3. Been going on a long time.

http://fusion.net/story/362245/cellphones-arent-luggage-so-why-are-customs-agents-searching-them-without-a-warrant/


We always have to be very careful with confidential client info when we cross the border.

[PoliticAverse]

11. Indeed, the ACLU sued over these type of searches back in 2009...

http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/1531712/aclu-sues-us-customs-laptop-searches

[Bernardo de La Paz]

2. Post in GD on this news, 53 recs and 30 posts, as of this writing.

Last edited Sun Feb 12, 2017, 07:45 PM - Edit history (2)

Not a duplicate, consider it an adjunct or vice versa.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10028636586

[DRoseDARs]

4. Yes his treatment was bad but, seperate matter, if there was potentially sensitive info on it...

...Why did he bring the NASA-issued phone with him on a personal trip to South America in the first place? Even if he hadn't had trouble at the border for having a non-White name (because duh of course he was stopped by racist agents in Texas), what if it had been lost or stolen prior to his return? That info would still be subject to theft. Methinks he needs to be reprimanded for his carelessness. The "seasoned international traveller" doesn't have his own personal phone? I'm sorry, but something smells here beyond his treatment by CBP agents.

[DK504]

6. If it is issued to him it seems that it's as a personal

phone that he uses in conjunction with NASA. His name sounds more India-ish, sure as hell doesn't Moose-lamb.

[LompocDem]

9. His position may require him to carry that cellphone.

The DOD requires their contractors and employees to surrender their mobile devices whenever there is a possible breach that they may be involved in. Receiving a classified email from a coworker on a secure email network is often compromised by some 'Toe Headed' idiot who copies it to people not cleared for that info and sometimes outside of that secured network. When that happens excrement hits the fan and causes cellphone confiscations and searches of both company issued and personal devices.

[Occulus]

12. Everything following the word 'it' in your subject line

helps enable this administration's apparent fascism.

Let me say that again, more clearly.

Why he took that particular cell phone with him is not relevant to the chilling effect sustained by CPB. The phone and its associated number were issued by NASA. It's very easy to blame the victims when you don't have all the facts, but in this case a better question would be "was there an easy way to verify the authenticity of the phone's IMEI, MAC address, and associated number as belonging to the block of phones issued by NASA to its employees?"

Asking why someone took their work phone with them on vacation and doing backflips to lay blame upon them for not sufficiently preparing for problems possession of their government issued device might cause upon return to their nation of birth is the exact sort of thing that allows this shit to set in and take root.

Don't make excuses for CPB. It smell ls bad to you because their decisions were bad and made no sense. This is consistent with everything that is Trump border security. Maybe he should have mailed it coming and going, but the employee is himself blameless.

[Quackers]

5. If it's a NASA issued cell phone,

Why does customs think they have the required clearance level to view its data? They would have to jail me.

[LompocDem]

10. Secure phones don't have cover sheets...

...as required for classified hard copies. Cover sheets showing the classification level for hard copies of classified info are a government requirement. It is an empirically proven way to send a visual signal that underneath the cover sheet there is classified information and what level of classification it is. Physical tracking of that hard copy is also strictly controlled within government entities and contractors. But digital and mobile technology among other distribution methods, have created many more hurdles for restricting access to our countries most sensitive information. These Bozo's in the Trump maladministration have no clue and now we are relying on the intelligence community to act to preserve our republic....strange but I'm good with that right now.

[24601]

13. NASA is civil and deals with classified information only when supporting national security payloads.

Even less likely that they would authorize an employee to transport classified information internationally. If you need it at a destination, hand-carrying it is the last resort.

Electronic devices need to be specifically accredited for receipt, transmission and storage of classified information. And even for unclassified but sensitive info, including PII, it must be encrypted.

These are not new concepts.

[haele]

14. The information on the phone was sensitive, not classified.

If I choose to get permission to have my personal phone scanned and download the all the apps that will provide both crypto and security scanning so that I can go on to my unclassified government VPN and be able to view emails or be able to VTC to government meetings while on travel in real time, that would put sensitive information on the phone. And it is completely legal. But in such a situation, honestly, I would prefer to have a government-issued device that I can carry with me and keep my personal phone for my personal use. Because that government-provided and maintained unit will be on a list that Homeland Security supposedly has access that indicates it's secure...

Beats lugging a government-issued laptop around if you are just there for a meeting. And going through customs with a laptop is far more intrusive and dangerous in terms of data security than going through customs with two smartphones.
A co-worker had his laptop irreparably damaged by an idiot group of customs agents who decided to light it off. Three years worth of work and data on it was gone.

There's a procedure in place for this sort of thing. Absolutely nothing wrong with what this NASA employee was doing. Everything wrong with Customs in this case.

Haele

[50 Shades Of Blue]

7. Fucking outrageous!

[LudwigPastorius]

8. He HAD to be detained and questioned.

He looks Middle Eastern...probably Palestinian...





...possibly from Bethlehem...

[catsudon]

15. i work for a bank

and i have a company issued phone, however, the phone has 2nd 2 factor authentication on if i want to access company mail/network. so there is another layer of security after the phone is unlocked, NASA needs to upgrade to that.

[yuiyoshida]

16. I have a feeling the Trump Administration's no fly list is going to expand to the point

That no one will be allowed to leave this country, unless they work for the U.S. Government.

[Ron Obvious]

17. This has been going on for years

Foreign companies have been telling their employees to wipe their laptops and phones before travelling to the US and then downloading the data over a secure line once there.

You don't have fourth amendment protections when you're in customs as you're not in the US yet and the constitution doesn't apply. This appears to be in direct contradiction to those who are claiming the travel ban violates the constitution, but there it is.