US Man Faces Charges After GrapheneOS Duress PIN Wiped Phone at Atlanta Airport

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Credit: Calvin Wankhede / Android Authority

TL;DR

A US man is being prosecuted after allegedly offering a GrapheneOS duress PIN that wiped his Pixel phone.

The charge treats the alleged wipe as destruction of property intended to prevent a government seizure.

The incident happened during a border search at Atlanta airport after agents demanded access to his phone.

GrapheneOS offers one of the more drastic privacy tools available on an Android phone. Known as a duress PIN, the dummy PIN wipes the device instead of unlocking it, for use in situations when you may be forced to hand over access to your device against your will. We’ve previously seen the value in such a code , but we did wonder if using the feature around law enforcement could create a legal minefield. It appears that a US prosecution is in the process of giving us an answer.

According to The Guardian , the US Department of Justice is prosecuting Atlanta resident Samuel Tunick after he allegedly gave a GrapheneOS duress PIN while border agents were trying to search his Google Pixel phone . Experts told the publication that they had not seen a similar case brought over the feature before.