Border Officials Charge a Man for Refusing Phone’s Password

This article was last updated on April 16, 2022

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Canadian Border Services Agency representative, Cindy MacKenzie, has confirmed that the border officials in Halifax laid charges against a man, named Alain Philippon, who refused to hand over the passcode for his smartphone. However, experts in the law claim that it’s not clear whether such demands are legal. Philippon is charged with “hindering” under section 153.1 of the Customs Act.

According to the section of the Customs Act, which governs border inspections, “no person shall, physically or otherwise, do or attempt to do any of the following: (a) interfere with or molest an officer doing anything that the officer is authorized to do under this Act; or (b) hinder or prevent an officer from doing anything that the officer is authorized to do under this Act.” Director of the Law and Technology Institute at Dalhousie University’s law school, Rob Currie, alleged that it’s an “open question” whether border security can demand passcodes and then search electronic devices, because the question has not been tested in Canadian courts. He elucidated that “the provisions of the Customs Act that set out the powers of the duties of the customs officers do not speak to this particularly situation very clearly.”

According to Currie, the law allows border agents to “inspect” phones, computers and tablets, but it can’t be said that they are allowed to demand passwords or even use the phones to access data held on remote servers. He alleged that “(the) Supreme Court of Canada has been clear recently that a cellphone is not like a suitcase, it’s not like a filing cabinet, it’s not like a purse or a handbag,” adding that “it’s got access to an enormous amount of data and the privacy interest in your cell phone and your computer is a lot higher.”