Want to come to the US? Be prepared to hand over your passwords if you're on Trump's hit list The new boss of the US Department of Homeland Security plans to dig deeper into the lives of some of those wishing to enter the Land of the FreeTM – even going as far as demanding web passwords and banking records. In a Q&A with the House Homeland Security Committee on Tuesday, John Kelly said the previous administration had …
I've been through all that when they started the whole TSA nonsense, so not worried, we developed a defensive model for us and our customers, and there's no need to change it.
I never bring along a laptop (to much data to risk), and I have already configured both iPhone and iPad for single action delete (iOS has some neat tricks in that respect), leaving only the debris that I deliberately introduced and which will make it appear that's all I have on it. If the devices leave my sight, the first stop would be an Apple shop to restore the base OS from the ground up or treat the device as untrusted until I have the time to reflash it (or buy a new one - we have quite a few in circulation for customer demo anyway).
As for Twitter and Facebook, I don't use it, and all my banking has 2FA so they're welcome to the password (which I change after every US visit anyway) - I never take the 2FA devices with me.
It's tragic that you have to do more planning for a visit to the US than you have when you go to Russia or China, though. Appalling.
What's to stop someone enabling 2FA on their accounts (well, those that support it anyway!), and just 'forgetting' to bring their phone with them, or leaving it at home to avoid extortionate roaming fees? So give them your password, knowing(*) that they're not going to be able to get into your account anyway without that SMS code.
* (also knowing that if you're someone of interest, they're probably in your account already anyway!)
Excellent plan. It's very easy to keep them out of your banking account or your Facebook account. The hard thing is to keep them out while being allowed to enter the USA. A lot cheaper just to stay at home in the first place.
My personal impression is that lots of Americans are really nice people when you meet them, although they _might_ consider to talk, not shout, when they are abroad in a public place, but the TSA is the biggest bunch of arsehole loser thugs that I have ever encountered.
I noticed, a few years after 9/11, when security theatre was ramped up, that the tube in London started to sprout advertisements from individual states: visit Texas, come to Florida, yay Las Vegas, etc. California even had a TV ad. Clearly the USA had stopped being an easy country to visit tourist numbers were dropping, and state economies were hurting. Well, Las Vegas is still advertising and I've just seen a big campaign pushing San Diego. Can't help but feel that these states had better spend more on 'see America first', because Americans will be the only ones willing to travel therein.
With that kind of criteria, my guess is that around 75% of US citizens under the age of 30 would likely not be able to fly either if this search was applied to them.
In any case, if I had any inclination of wanting to spend money in the US (which I don't under the current Administration), given that I have no social media accounts and my webbanking account needs an OTP key which I will certainly leave at home, I guess those eagle-eyed intellectual wizards at the border control desks will just have to repeal me if I tried.
Somehow, I am almost wishing to see this go through just for the fun of watching (from afar) the meltdown that will undoubtedly ensure. Looks like The Donald is going to wreak more havoc on the US itself than anywhere else.
Can we have a popcorn icon ?
I have 3 Facebook accounts all with the same name and all linked to different email addresses. No more than 10 mates on each and one only has one mate linked from one of the others used for testing some software I wrote around 2 years ago!
- I have an Instagram with a single picture of my dog.
- I have Twitter with one tweet that says, "My first tweet!" sent in 2012
- I have Myspace which I never logged into after I created it
- Flickr with 2 pics of my garden ( one with aforementioned dog in it! )
If I can remember the passwords, you have at them DHS!
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"It's worse, because as soon as they have your password they can fabricate any "evidence" against you - and then refuse you the visa"
I cannot upvote this enough. And of course if they refuse you the visa and you've applied as a refugee due to being not-entirely-praising of your *current* leader, what's to stop them passing the info back to your former countrymen's border security, who'll be waiting to give you a warm welcome from the return flight.
The USA is filled with people who emigrated from European countries because they were tired of putting up with your s**t. [insert ushered applause]. So stay away from the USA, they'll somehow manage to get by.
Objecting to researching immigrants from 7 countries in this way is entirely logical since there isn't any government which keeps records, or have the infrastructure to support normal investigation operations. You object to investigating social media accounts, but do you have any idea what most countries investigate before someone immigrates into the country YOU live in? Giving up social media information is nothing compared to typical items which are investigated.
Stop shouting out racist left wing talking points. Stop being an ignorant parrot who just repeats what they hear. Take 10 minutes and research and ask WHY something is being done. Be a bit more critical when it comes to left wing crying points.
What these comments have shown is -
How easy it is for someone to get around this by setting up fake accounts (takes a little time but if you are a terrorist planning is everything I suppose)
How banks could not get away with allowing this huge and gaping a hole in their systems
How decent two-part security will not let third parties look at this anyway
Zooming out for a minute -
This policy is simply to make a good impression with Trump's core vote - nothing more.
Trump needs millions more to march for him in order to stay in power and bully the other marchers into submission.
The more his core vote see he is 'delivering' (however false the reality of that is) the more likely they are to actually march.
If they do then the US is doomed to become inward looking, protectionist and shortly thereafter fascist.
‘So-called judge’ – perhaps the start of the fight against the rule of law as per Weimar Germany.
Temporary ban on 15% of Muslims – perhaps the start of the fight to stoke up real hatred of a minority (any minority will do) as per Nazi Germany.
All your passwords are belonging to us – perhaps the start of how to ‘protect’ everyone as per issuing ID cards in occupied Europe / 1984.
I realise Aodhhan will not see any of this as being linked or realistic or sensible, but battle lines are being drawn around the world – and you and I are unfortunately on different sides.
And no, I have never been a member of the Labour or indeed Communist party, but I am a history graduate who has read about all this before, but had always thought he wouldn’t be living through an attempt to re-hash it.
‘May you live in interesting times’ – no, bollocks, no.
Immigrants came to the USA from the 1700s onward. The most came over in the 1800s/early 1900s. I think you will find that Europe has changed since then. So what shit are you referring to? We don't even need ten minutes to research why this is being done. We know that you previously had (and presumably still have) a rigorous control over your borders and that people coming in from these seven banned countries already get vetted up the wazoo, and are watched while they are in the USA.
I agree that other countries, such as the UK, vet people coming in, but not as widely and intrusively as the USA are planning to do.
I also think that 'racist left wing' is a bit odd. Not that left-wing people can't be racists...
Congratulations, you managed a pretty good troll without any capital shouting. Well done.
First, you admirably redirected the issue about immigration, when the article actually mentions "tourists, travelers and visa holders". Brilliant reduction to your personal arena, masterfully done.
Then, having thus set the piece in your complete control, you take the mantel of authority to admonish The People about things they don't know. Of course, you follow by a pseudo-attack on the legitimacy of The People questioning government authority. A must, obviously.
But the end is a bit disappointing, really. A little half-hearted rally on lefties and parrots, no, that's just weak. And repeating "left wing" twice in the same paragraph, tsk, tsk. That ending is a letdown, really. Not half as a good as the paragraph before.
I'll give you a B -.
Carry on.
"ask WHY something is being done."
It's a good question and we'd like a sensible answer.
I'll put to you a little exercise inn critical thinking that I put in repsonse to a similarly stupid post on a previous thread. After all, you seem keen on critical thinking.
Change the attribute from a particular country or religion and see how much sense your argument makes.
Most rape offences are committed by men therefore all men should be refused entry.
Does it make sense? What's wrong with it? Have you learned anything from your brief attempt at thinking? If so, go back and apply it to your original argument and see if it still makes sense.
And by the way, remember that some of us out here have experience of a terrorist campaigns extended over decades, campaigns financed in part from the US, a financing operation the USG did little to stem. We do not take kindly to attempted lectures on the evils of terrorism from US citizens or even presidents.
"Stop shouting out racist left wing talking points."
What's that?
"Stop being an ignorant parrot who just repeats what they hear."
Like Trump repeating Bannon?
"Take 10 minutes and research and ask WHY something is being done."
Because Trump is paranoid and stupid, and most likely entering dementia?
"Be a bit more critical when it comes to left wing crying points."
Don't you mean be more like the most afraid people on the planet, the alt-right nervous wrecks that think every muslim is out to get them? Real stable and sensible folks.. Likes talking themselves into a frenzy. No wonder just must keep plenty of guns. The muslim boogie man is coming to get you. Trump can't sleep now because of the evil judges.
Reported in the Canadian press this morning, the case of a Muslim-Canadian woman with a Canadian passport, originally from Morocco (not a country on Trump's block list), traveling with her children to visit relatives in the U.S. as they have done many times before. She was stopped and detained, interrogated about her religious beliefs and her opinions of Donald Trump. They took her phone and demanded her password, then spent hours reviewing the contents. Grilled her about videos of prayer sessions. Finally blocked her entrance to the U.S. and sent her back after 4 hours because she might be a terrorist.
It's not great that 'I do not like Donald Trump' is enough to block you from entering a country that prides itself on its defence of free speech and freedom of belief. Shouldn't that bother a lot of Americans? What kind of 'American values' are these? I guess we get to tear up those Norman Rockwell posters on the Four Freedoms. Don't pertain any more.
Looks like Norman Rockwell is being replaced with George Lincoln Rockwell.
And still more similar incidents being reported in the last 2 days, including a Canadian-born Canadian citizen who happened to have Moroccan ancestry being stopped, questioned, required to give up his phone and password, and ultimately being refused entry with his university track team.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/another-canadian-citizen-refused-entry-united-states-border-1.3976230
One thing that the media have been doing is jumping on the smallest hint of 'we want to do something' and immediately blasting it out without reservation.
Despite the mess of Executive Orders that trump has flung out the door, the US does still have the other pillars of its system, and although the Republicans own the senate and the house, and the presidency, the *people* and the judiciary will still be there.
Although the entire concept of "we want all your passwords" is utterly ridiculous this is likely to be handled better than the TSA's $7.50/hr not quite security guard type asking as you present your passport, and it rather strikes me that even *if* it eventually meandered through the system sufficiently to be implemented in any way there would be some sanity applied at some point.
HOWEVER: (all the above said)
It makes it abundantly clear *what level* of intelligence and forethought the crew(s) that trump has chosen to surround himself with are equipped with when they allow themselves to utter such complete and total nonsense in front of video cameras.
Witless Kellyanne directly violating core ethics rules.
Sad, Sad Sean insisting that everything everyone is "mediaing" is all lies.
This ex military twat popping an off the cuff "idea" out of its mouth.
The tweeter himself coming up with "longest wait for confirmation" shit that *clearly* he hasn't even thought to look up.
This clueless lot of twats obviously think they are *VERY* special.
Don't forget that they will want to know your telephone number and will probably be able to read the messages sent to it even if you left it at home and so can access any 2FA code to get access to the sites that they want?
Same with emails.
The securefobs will need a bit more work - like an arrangement with the manufacturers to have a method of reproducing the required code by detailing the serial number of the keyfob? If you leave that at home then you might be slightly better off.
When we move to iris scans, we will probably have to send them an eyeball!
Many of us have a several email accounts, social media., etc, the simple thing is create one password, for them all, then when you are safely pass security just changed your password, the question there seems to be no limits, where I stop is DNA and microchip, I rather live off the grid if it gets to that point
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