China to demand visitors turn over password

Amiga · Feb 9, 2017

See other thread (why make up terrorist attack) --- create fears and the public is less against these typically unacceptable ideas.

The Obama admin thought about this in 2011, almost put it into practice after a year of revision but ultimately decided no. These stuffs can have broad consequences and you can see how the last admin took their time and not rush into policy.

On the surface, what's the big deal. Well, why wouldn't China and other authoritarian state want to do this? That is enough to said no. Considering that vetting has been successful to date, does this even help or will it be counter productive?

U.S. Visitors May Have to Hand Over Social Media Passwords: DHS

People who want to visit the United States could be asked to hand over their social-media passwords to officials as part of enhanced security checks, the country's top domestic security chief said.

Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly told Congress on Tuesday the measure was one of several being considered to vet refugees and visa applicants from seven Muslim-majority countries.

"We want to get on their social media, with passwords: What do you do, what do you say?" he told the House Homeland Security Committee. "If they don't want to cooperate then you don't come in."

His comments came the same day judges heard arguments over President Donald Trump's executive order temporarily barring entry to most refugees and travelers from Syria, Iraq, Iran, Somalia, Sudan, Libya and Yemen.

Kelly, a Trump appointee, stressed that asking for people's passwords was just one of "the things that we're thinking about" and that none of the suggestions were concrete.

Under the existing vetting process, according to Kelly, officials "don't have a lot to work with," relying on the applicant's documentation and asking them questions about their background.

He said this was even more problematic when dealing with so-called "failed states" such as Syria or Somalia, where infrastructure and record-keeping has been degraded by conflict.

"When someone says, 'I'm from this town and this was my occupation,' [officials] essentially have to take the word of the individual," he said. "I frankly don't think that's enough, certainly President Trump doesn't think that's enough. So we've got to maybe add some additional layers."

As well as asking people for their passwords, Kelly said he was looking at trying to obtain people's financial records.

"We can follow the money, so to speak. How are you living, who's sending you money?" he said. "It applies under certain circumstances, to individuals who may be involved in on the payroll of terrorist organizations."

Obtaining visitors' passwords was considered by top officials at the Department of Homeland Security under the Obama administration, but the policy was never adopted, according to an internal department memo obtained by MSNBC in 2015.
Click to expand...

Former NSA lawyer says US border plans to demand tourists' browser history, phone data would be unlawful

One former intelligence lawyer said the move would be 'tremendously intrusive' and could have a 'real cost' to effective intelligence gathering.

NEW YORK -- A former senior lawyer for the National Security Agency has called plans to force visitors to the US to turn over contacts lists, browsing histories, and social media data "tremendously intrusive" and "grossly overbroad."

April Doss, former associate general counsel for intelligence law at the National Security Agency, argued in a phone call that such a move would almost certainly be unlawful

A second former NSA lawyer, Susan Hennessey, appeared to concur. In a tweet, she said that "when April said something violated the law, that was the end of discussion."

CNN reported Sunday that White House policy director Stephen Miller said Trump administration officials are "discussing the possibility of asking foreign visitors to disclose all websites and social media sites they visit, and to share the contacts in their cell phones."

Miller added that foreign visitors who decline to share that information could be denied entry, but sources said that the idea was at a preliminary discussion level.

"It defies belief to my way of thinking that web browsing histories and contacts list of every person who wants to enter the US on a visit could possibly have intelligence value," said Doss.

"GROSSLY OVERBROAD"

News of the discussions comes two days after President Trump signed a new executive order barring citizens of seven predominantly Muslim nations entry into the US, which sparked protests around the country during the weekend and widespread condemnation from major tech companies whose employees were also affected by the order.

After the ACLU brought forward a case, a federal court stayed the executive order, preventing any deportations for the time being.

The former NSA lawyer, whose job provided legal advice on the NSA's intelligence operations as well as ensuring compliance with privacy and civil liberties policies, explained that the government neither has the capacity to conduct deep-dive searches on every visitor at the border, nor has the legal powers to do it once they are permitted entry to the US.

Doss said that it would be "tremendously intrusive" if US border officials were searching the contents of communications, such as contacts lists and social media information, which people are generally afforded a reasonable expectation of privacy.

Even with browsing data, she said that it's "pretty well established in US law" that web searches and news articles can be construed as content if the name of the article is in the web address, for example.

"To ask every single visitor to the US to provide this information would certainly be grossly overbroad," she said.

INTERNATIONAL FALLOUT
Rules like this, if enacted, could have serious domestic and foreign policy implications for the Trump administration.

Doss warned that the international ramifications may diminish intelligence sharing between the US and other countries, such as Iran which has reportedly already banned US citizens from entering the country.

International trade and data flows could be interrupted, she said.

I can't imagine [Privacy Shield] surviving something like this," she said, "because it would be very hard for European data protection authorities to reach a level of comfort with this kind of personal data from individuals simply as a requirement of traveling into the US."

"This could precipitate or [be] used to further propaganda for adversaries of the US," she added.

Already, social and media channels belonging to so-called Islamic State are said to be "taking advantage of the situation" by sharing articles by Western media outlets instead of their own propaganda.

"DETRIMENTAL TO INTELLIGENCE ACTIVITIES"
Doss, who served for more than a decade at the intelligence agency, warned that there could be a negative impact on effective intelligence gathering, if such a plan was implemented.

"There is no conceivable fashion in which all of the information from every person who wishes to enter the US on a visit has anything to do with national security or lawfully authorized intelligence gathering activities," she said.

"To do that sort of collection on this scale would be quite detrimental to intelligence activities because you would get so much garbage that has nothing to do with anything," she added.

She said that the move would be a "tremendous drain on resources" because the volume of people coming in would make finding a needle in a haystack "several hundred million times larger."

That could hamper and distract intelligence officials "from doing much more focused work that could have very important outcomes," she added.

"That could be a real cost to effective intelligence gathering," she said.

A spokesperson for the White House did not return an email requesting comment.
Click to expand...

Buck Turgidson · Feb 9, 2017

First they came for the Facebookers, but I have no Facebook so I said nothing. Then they came for the Twitterers, but I am not a Twit so I said nothing....

ipaman · Feb 9, 2017

Silly China, you don't ask users for their passwords you demand tech companies give you backdoors.

pirc1 · Feb 9, 2017

ipaman said: ↑

Silly China, you don't ask users for their passwords you demand tech companies give you backdoors.
Click to expand...

Exactly right, so much more efficient.

Forums

China to demand visitors turn over password

Amiga Member

Buck Turgidson Member

ipaman Member

pirc1 Member

Share This Page

About ClutchFans

Rockets Content

Support ClutchFans!