The Government’s Indictment of an Activist Tests Whether You Have a Right to Wipe Your Phone
An Atlanta activist faces federal charges after giving border agents a duress passcode that deleted all of the data from his phone during an airport interrogation in 2025.
Privacy advocates say the indictment raises questions about whether data-wiping features, like the duress passcode in GrapheneOS installed on Samuel Tunick’s Google Pixel phone in this case, provide a tool to keep your data from search and seizure or whether they could open you up to additional scrutiny or similar charges.
The indictment of Tunick, an outspoken activist in the Stop Cop City movement, stems from his detainment while re-entering the US from a trip in January 2025. After being repeatedly pressed to turn over his phone’s passcode, Tunick is accused of giving the duress passcode. According to the indictment, “the screen went blank, flashed several times and the phone appeared to restart” after the code was entered.
Tunick’s legal team...
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