WELLINGTON: New Zealand Customs has failed to satisfy the MPs on privacy issues. Customs Department Head, Carolyn Tremain, told MPs the department would only request travelers hand over passwords to their electronic devices if it had a reason to be suspicious about what was on them.
The department unleashed a furore last week when it said in a discussion paper that it should be given unrestricted power to force people to divulge passwords to their smart phones and computers at the border.
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That would be without Customs officials having to show they had any grounds for suspicion.
Tremain’s comments, made during and after she appeared in front of a select committee for Customs’ annual review, appeared to open the door for a possible compromise on the password issue, which has alarmed civil libertarians.
However, Council for Civil Liberties spokesman Thomas Beagle said its concerns were more “technical” in nature and he doubted the power Customs was seeking could be implemented in an acceptable way.
Under Customs’ proposal, refusing to hand over a password or a key to decrypt files on an electronic device could result in a three month jail sentence, but serious criminals would still refuse, he said.
There were circumstances in which innocent passengers might not always know the keys to decrypt information on a device, for example if they were shared with family members, he said.
Tremain said passwords would not be requested by the first Customs official travellers came into contact with and would only be requested if travellers had been pulled aside for “secondary checks”. That was something that could potentially be stipulated in the planned overhaul of the Customs and Excise Act, she said.
Tremain said Customs would welcome feedback on whether it should have to demonstrate grounds for suspicion before requiring people disclose passwords or decryption keys.
