![\"US-Canada](\"https:\/\/blogs.northcountrypublicradio.org\/inbox\/files\/2015\/03\/300px-Overton_Corners_Boundary.jpg\")
<\/a>US-Canada Boundary at Overton Corners, NY connects Lacolle, Quebec to Champlain, New York. Source: Wikipedia<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n A sizable faction says something along the lines of “Hey, if you have nothing to hide, then there’s no problem” and accepts “whatever it takes” to protect public safety.<\/p>\n The opposite view point feels current practices clearly violate U.S. Constitutional protection specified by the Fourth Amendment<\/a> against warrantless search and seizure.<\/p>\n Benjamin Franklin’s pithy quip is often invoked too:\u00a0“Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.” (Sidenote: this NPR piece asserts this current use\u00a0mis-appropriates<\/a> how Franklin first meant that comment.)<\/p>\n To all that add the “anything goes” nature of border crossings.<\/p>\n Many do not know how few rights exist in that area. Others wish the courts would clarify that picture.<\/p>\n As reported in Canadian news sources, Quebec resident Alain Philippon found all this out first hand when he recently refuse to provide the password for his cell phone to airport border agents inspection in Halifax last Monday. He was returning from time spent in the Dominican Republic.<\/p>\n Philippon was charged with \u201chindering\u201d<\/a> under section 153.1 of the Customs Act, according to Canadian Border Services Agency representative,\u00a0If found guilty, he could be facing a fine between $1,000 – $25,000 and up to a year in jail.<\/p>\n According to CBC coverage<\/a>:<\/p>\n Philippon\u00a0did not want to be interviewed but said he intends to fight the charge since he considers the information on his phone to be “personal.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Supreme Court rulings in Canada on cellphone privacy have been mixed<\/a>. But those decisions were for internal\/domestic cases.<\/p>\n Travelers crossing Canadian borders have a “reduced expectation of privacy”, according to\u00a0Rob Currie, director of the Law and Technology Institute at Dalhousie University. Again, from CBC<\/a>:<\/p>\n Currie said the issue of whether a traveller must reveal a password to an electronic device at the border hasn\u2019t been tested by a court.<\/p>\n “This is a question that has not been litigated in Canada, whether they can actually demand you to hand over your password to allow them to unlock the device,” he said. “[It’s] one thing for them to inspect it, another thing for them to compel you to help them.”<\/p>\n Currie said the obstruction case hinges on that distinction.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n When it comes to borders, you may be surprised at what’s allowed. Or you may be pleased, depending on your security priorities.<\/p>\n