The Cops Can Pretty Much Always Search Your Smartphone in Canada

[grumbler]

Ah, arrogance and stupidity all in the same package. How efficient of you.

See... this is much more of an ad hom, I would think.

Well, Londo always was a bit of a jerk.

[grumbler]

I feel great, thanks for asking

I'm amused that you consider it an ad hom to imply that you quibble over precise word definitions. But if it makes you feel better, then by all means.

I find it amusing that you cannot distinguish between debating word meaning when it is meaningful, and when it is mere quibbling unrelated to the point being made.  But if that's the way your boat floats, I'm cool with it.

[Barrister]

Derspeiss has occasionally descended to racist "schtick" (though misogynist "schtick" is more his usual style).

Um, when was that?

I dunno, just a general recollection.  I could be wrong.

[Jacob]

I feel great, thanks for asking

I'm amused that you consider it an ad hom to imply that you quibble over precise word definitions. But if it makes you feel better, then by all means.

I find it amusing that you cannot distinguish between debating word meaning when it is meaningful, and when it is mere quibbling unrelated to the point being made.  But if that's the way your boat floats, I'm cool with it.

Excellent!

It's great that we are both getting something out of this exchange

[Berkut]

Well, I am heading across the border tonight for a couple days in St. Catharines for business. Any border patrol crossing testing in either direction you guys need me to test?

[derspiess]

Tell them you had a DUI a few months ago and see what happens.

[Archy]

But it is also interesting to note that they are also something different from the police officers and so the distinction between the powers given to a Border Guard is different than a police officer even in Germany.

I am not exactly an expert on the police-related legislation of Germany's sixteen states and that of the federal government, but at least from my perspective there is no difference. The law establishing the federal police makes it explicit that it is a police task to guard borders and that the federal police has police powers. They also wear the same uniforms that say police.



By the way, your luggage at the airport would be checked by a different agency in Germany, namely the Federal Customs Agency. They have only limited police powers and are not considered a police force. There are actually two different kind of borders: for persons and goods. You'll notice when you arrive at just about any international airport. You'll always be checked for your travel documents (persons border), but your luggage is typically only checked in your final destination (goods border). The US is rather the exception here again as they make you pick up your luggage, haul it past a disinterested customs officer and re-check it afterwards.

Over here the system is the same Airport Police handles all police tasks on the airport + control of the paperwork for people leaving or entering Schengen + immigration. Luggage is checked by Customs for smuggling, Security firm (Secritas, G4s, ..) for arms, dangerous goods,...

[Archy]

The cell phone itself is a good.

And at law if you had a padlock on your goods you'd be obliged to open it for the border guards, so it's the same for your cellphone.

No, it's not the same. If they ask you to take the battery out of your phone, that would be the same. To show them your correspondence, photos and whatever other information you have stored on your phone is not. Or is there a customs fee on information in Canada? Because if there isn't (as I assume), they don't have a plausible reason to search your phone. If you bought a new phone abroad, you might have to pay customs. If you received an e-mail abroad on your Canada-bought phone, that's none of their business.

Just got a training on this. Even an email can be considered an export if it contains data which may note be sent to an embargoed country. IMHO not reason enough to do a check at the border.