How can journalists protect confidential data and sources on their phones when crossing borders? Richard Medhurst, a well-known independent British journalist covering international affairs who has been highly critical of Israel, was arrested upon landing at London’s Heathrow Airport. He was the first reporter to be arrested by the British police under Section 12 of the Terrorism Act, which makes it an offence to invite support for a proscribed group.

Interesting article about Medhurst and his use of GrapheneOS. Apparently he failed to turn off his phone before UK police boarded his plane and seized it from him, but the auto reboot feature protected his data and sources. The article also mentions that he’s now in the process of writing a massive guide to security and privacy for journalists.

  • hellinkilla [they/them, they/them]@hexbear.netEnglish
    18·
    6 days ago

    “They then tried to offer me journalistic privilege,” which he also flat-out refused.

    “The idea was that you tell an ‘independent’ policeman what the passcode is, and where all the privileged documents and contacts are, then they sift through them to decide what to pass to the prosecution,” he says.