<story><title>Man sues feds after being detained for refusing to unlock his phone at airport</title><url>https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2018/12/man-sues-feds-after-being-detained-for-refusing-to-unlock-his-phone-at-airport/</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>bruceb</author><text>The problem with Customs and Border Protection is the attitude. They do have a challenging job. 99%+ of travelers are legit and doing nothing nefarious. They have to pick out the ones who are not legit&amp;#x2F;up to no good. I have no problem with them asking questions of myself or other travelers, even a lot of questions.&lt;p&gt;The problem is the attitude and abusive nature of their conduct. I have had this experience a couple times and one time with my mother and I am a citizen. 
Plenty of other countries have customs&amp;#x2F;border agents that quiz you without attacking or belittling you.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>zachberger</author><text>I agree.&lt;p&gt;I went through the TSA checkpoint at the United Premier Access this last Tuesday. They have the new automated bin return system. Some of the people who travel less frequently were leaving the bins behind instead of putting them in the machine to be returned to the front. The TSA agent shouted at them repeatedly, &amp;quot;do any of you read English? Can&amp;#x27;t you read the damn sign?&amp;quot; While he pointed at the instructions. He did this for the entire time I was near the checkpoint.&lt;p&gt;This is belittling. Not everyone flys frequently and knows this process. How about respecting them and teaching them the new way?&lt;p&gt;I wanted to say something to one of the other agents, but why risk ending up on a list especially when it&amp;#x27;s this hard to get through now.</text></comment>
<story><title>Man sues feds after being detained for refusing to unlock his phone at airport</title><url>https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2018/12/man-sues-feds-after-being-detained-for-refusing-to-unlock-his-phone-at-airport/</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>bruceb</author><text>The problem with Customs and Border Protection is the attitude. They do have a challenging job. 99%+ of travelers are legit and doing nothing nefarious. They have to pick out the ones who are not legit&amp;#x2F;up to no good. I have no problem with them asking questions of myself or other travelers, even a lot of questions.&lt;p&gt;The problem is the attitude and abusive nature of their conduct. I have had this experience a couple times and one time with my mother and I am a citizen. 
Plenty of other countries have customs&amp;#x2F;border agents that quiz you without attacking or belittling you.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>bonestamp2</author><text>&amp;gt; Plenty of other countries have customs&amp;#x2F;border agents that quiz you without attacking or belittling you.&lt;p&gt;I agree. I am Canadian, but I went to school in the US. After school I returned to Canada. A couple years later I had a US work visa to train Americans on a particular technology that my company specialized in, and I was maybe the foremost expert in (outside of the manufacturer). I wasn&amp;#x27;t taking anyone&amp;#x27;s job, I was literally helping Americans keep their jobs instead of being replaced by me or someone like me.&lt;p&gt;Anyway, on one particular trip I was called to secondary inspection and the CBP officer who received me there went on a long tirade about how I should work in my own country for a change. I mean, I did work in my country most of the time (I was still well within the 183 day&amp;#x2F;year tax treaty limit). He got so mad he actually walked away before he even asked me any questions. I was just standing there, confused, embarrassed and left feeling guilty even though I had done nothing illegal or immoral.&lt;p&gt;But, there are good people in the CBP too... one saw what happened and came over and profusely apologized. He asked a few questions, apologized again, and sent me on my way. On the flip side, I&amp;#x27;ve had my computers and phones searched by Canadian Customs and they&amp;#x27;ve done so with tact and compassion, which seems to be much more effective -- it&amp;#x27;s amazing how much more cooperative people are when you treat them with compassion.&lt;p&gt;But that&amp;#x27;s not just CBP, that&amp;#x27;s true for every industry that I&amp;#x27;ve worked in... there are a few assholes everywhere and everyone else who is cool is a lot more effective because they approach people like they&amp;#x27;re working together rather than against each other.</text></comment>