14 DAY TRIAL // New Zealand airport customs agents force thousands of travelers every year to hand over the passwords for their devices, in some cases inspecting files and even copying the data for the government.
Though this sounds like a severe privacy violation, the so-called digital strip search is performed without a court order as the customs agents claim to adhere to the country’s privacy act, which allows them to perform searches on people perceived as possible threats to national security.
Data obtained by New Zealand's 1 news channel reveals that agents can perform a quick or a much more extensive search, with one passenger explaining that he had to spend no less than 5 hours until all his data was analyzed. In some cases, the customs officers can create backups of travelers’ data and then pass it along to the government and law enforcement for closer inspection.
Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch airports all performing digital strip searches
The digital strip search has been performed on more than 1,350 people since 2015, and most of them were New Zealanders. 296 people were based in New Zealand, while 269 of the travelers who were forced to surrender their passwords were Chinese.
Intelligence Investigations Customs general manager Jamie Bamford says that customs agents have the necessary means to crack the encryption of devices protected with a password if owners do not agree to unlock them themselves.
On the other hand, the country is trying to reduce the number of people who don’t comply with these requirements by preparing a bill to have travelers fined up to $5000 should they refuse to hand over the passwords.
Privacy advocates obviously recommend against the digital strip search and say travelers should seek legal advice before surrendering their passwords, though it’s very clear that not everyone is willing to spend several hours in an airport, especially when traveling across the globe.