Don't go to New Zealand

OUTRAGED travellers have vowed to avoid New Zealand after it became the first country to fine passengers who refuse to hand over their phone passwords at the border.

New Zealand’s Customs and Excise Act 2018, which comes into effect this week, allows customs officials to demand passwords, PINs and encryption keys to unlock devices for “digital strip searches”.

Travellers who refuse to hand over the passwords will be charged up to $NZ5000 ($A4580) and could face having their device confiscated as well as prosecution.

Previously, customs officials could stop anyone at the border and demand to see their devices but until now, the law didn’t compel travellers to provide their password as well.

“We’re not aware of any other country that has legislated for the potential of a penalty to be applied if people do not divulge their passwords,” New Zealand customs spokesman Terry Brown said.
The law compels travellers to hand over information to unlock their devices during digital searches.

The law compels travellers to hand over information to unlock their devices during digital searches.Source:istock

But customs officials won’t be able to access the Cloud, he said.  “It is a file-by-file (search) on your phone. We’re not going into ‘the Cloud’,” Mr Brown told NZTV. “We’ll examine your phone while it’s on flight mode.”

Officials must have a “reasonable cause to suspect” a device or its owner to warrant the digital search and data may be copied and reviewed.

Last year, New Zealand border officials carried out 537 preliminary searches of devices. “The shift from paper-based systems to electronic systems has meant that the majority of prohibited material and documents are now stored electronically,” a New Zealand Customs spokeswoman said.

But the rule change has been slammed by civil liberties advocates and travellers. The New Zealand Council for Civil Liberties said it was a “grave invasion of personal privacy of both the person who owns the device and the people they have communicated with”.

“Modern smartphones contain a large amount of highly sensitive private information including emails, letters, medical records, personal photos, and very personal photos,” chairman Thomas Beagle said in a statement.

“The reality of this law is that it gives Customs the power to take and force the unlock of people’s smartphones without justification or appeal — and this is exactly what Customs has always wanted.”

Travellers have also taken to social media to express their outrage at the news.

SOURCE