A man in Atlanta has been arrested and charged for allegedly deleting data from a Google Pixel phone before a member of a secretive Customs and Border Protection (CBP) unit was able to search it, according to court records and social media posts reviewed by 404 Media. The man, Samuel Tunick, is described as a local Atlanta activist in Instagram and other posts discussing the case.
The exact circumstances around the search—such as why CBP wanted to search the phone in the first place—are not known. But it is uncommon to see someone charged specifically for wiping a phone, a feature that is easily accessible in some privacy and security-focused devices.
[The indictment](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26363121-samuel-tunick-indictment/?ref=404media.co) says on January 24, Tunick “did knowingly destroy, damage, waste, dispose of, and otherwise take any action to delete the digital contents of a Google Pixel cellular phone, for the purpose of preventing and impairing the Government’s lawful authority to take said property into its custody and control.” The indictment itself was filed in mid-November.
Court records show authorities have since released Tunick, and that he is restricted from leaving the Northern District of Georgia as the case continues.
I hope this case goes through the courts, it raises first amendment rights, and with luck it will go so slowly that half the Scotus judges are retired or gone by then so we can actually have legitimate judges rule.
Icy-Tension-3925 on
Land of the free!!!!
LankyGuitar6528 on
Lol… wait till they get a look at my squeaky clean burner phone. I have one for home in Canada and an identical one I set up at our place in the USA. My travel phone is just for show because it looks weird if you say you don’t have one. Same with my laptop. One in Canada, one at our place in Arizona. I just sync everything by VPN to a cloud virtual PC. There’s nothing sketchy on it but who wants them going through all your personal stuff?
I’m just waiting out these guys… but realistically it’s time to get out of this stupid ass country.
Specialist-Neck-7810 on
It’s his phone, he can do whatever he wants to it.
edbegley1 on
I’d like to know what law he allegedly broke here.
cuvar on
Does this apply to non digital stuff? Like if I have a letter that is incriminating, is it currently illegal to burn it before there’s a warrant to get it?
CopEatingDonut on
Isn’t that what signal is for the current administration?
Dcongo on
Easier to wipe a phone compared to flushing top secret documents down a toilet that won’t flush on the first four tries.
loathelord on
Waiting for those Don’t Tread on Me people to defend him.
11 Comments
A man in Atlanta has been arrested and charged for allegedly deleting data from a Google Pixel phone before a member of a secretive Customs and Border Protection (CBP) unit was able to search it, according to court records and social media posts reviewed by 404 Media. The man, Samuel Tunick, is described as a local Atlanta activist in Instagram and other posts discussing the case.
The exact circumstances around the search—such as why CBP wanted to search the phone in the first place—are not known. But it is uncommon to see someone charged specifically for wiping a phone, a feature that is easily accessible in some privacy and security-focused devices.
[The indictment](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26363121-samuel-tunick-indictment/?ref=404media.co) says on January 24, Tunick “did knowingly destroy, damage, waste, dispose of, and otherwise take any action to delete the digital contents of a Google Pixel cellular phone, for the purpose of preventing and impairing the Government’s lawful authority to take said property into its custody and control.” The indictment itself was filed in mid-November.
Court records show authorities have since released Tunick, and that he is restricted from leaving the Northern District of Georgia as the case continues.
Read more here: [https://www.404media.co/man-charged-for-wiping-phone-before-cbp-could-search-it/](https://www.404media.co/man-charged-for-wiping-phone-before-cbp-could-search-it/)
The government’s lawful authority.
Based on “instincts”.
I hope this case goes through the courts, it raises first amendment rights, and with luck it will go so slowly that half the Scotus judges are retired or gone by then so we can actually have legitimate judges rule.
Land of the free!!!!
Lol… wait till they get a look at my squeaky clean burner phone. I have one for home in Canada and an identical one I set up at our place in the USA. My travel phone is just for show because it looks weird if you say you don’t have one. Same with my laptop. One in Canada, one at our place in Arizona. I just sync everything by VPN to a cloud virtual PC. There’s nothing sketchy on it but who wants them going through all your personal stuff?
I’m just waiting out these guys… but realistically it’s time to get out of this stupid ass country.
It’s his phone, he can do whatever he wants to it.
I’d like to know what law he allegedly broke here.
Does this apply to non digital stuff? Like if I have a letter that is incriminating, is it currently illegal to burn it before there’s a warrant to get it?
Isn’t that what signal is for the current administration?
Easier to wipe a phone compared to flushing top secret documents down a toilet that won’t flush on the first four tries.
Waiting for those Don’t Tread on Me people to defend him.