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Comment by EGreg | Hacker News Reader

Rubber Hose Cryptanalysis?

Can't wait for iOS to have the deniability factor of having different passwords unlock different things :)

For the sensitive stuff, have periods of time that require several computers to solve cryptographic challenges in order to unlock the phone. Some of which may be your friends' devices. If they don't hear from you and your intended hosts in a certain amount of time, phone stays locked.

Or one of the devices can be an NFC or Wifi hotspot in a certain area, and one at home. If you don't reach it, phone stays locked.

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That's the worst case for rubber hose.

Even if you give up all your passwords they can still keep beating you to get the "real" pass.

They should have an "erase everything" password.

If you are under the threat of violence that won't save you.

But maybe death is preferable to living with your anime collection out there.

I'm calling Poe's law here. I hope you do not serious mean that anime collections are shameful.

s/anime/youknow/ aka Rule34.

better yet, a pass code option to show a bare user account without access to the real user data

If you are realistically in a situation where that would happen, and you would be harmed, they may just decide to kill you as you're no longer of any value.

In this case, a blank phone probably means no entry and not actually harming you. So, there's that, I guess.

Why can't they do that ANYWAY?

So you are afraid of actors that would torture you to get access to the data.

And your "solution" is to share this experience with your friends by tying their devices to yours and setting up a device in such a manner that that actor would not be able to verify if they indeed have access to the real data stored on it.

This is a recipe for a one way ticket to a very dark place for you and your friends.

For the most part the number one rule of actual data safety is that never implement protection that would put your well being or the well being of others at risk, unless you are protecting the nuclear launch codes no data is worth being physically harmed for.

> unless you are protecting the nuclear launch codes no data is worth being physically harmed for.

What if you’re just protecting the location of your daughter/sister from her physically abusive ex? Not worth enduring some violence for?

In that case they would come to break your face to begin with not your 256bit encryption.

So, since the vendor will undoubtedly inject themselves into this complex situation for 'usability', you are basically arguing for devices that are never actually controlled by their user because terrorism. Good 9/11 argument there.

What are you TALKING about?

The user controls their device to the exact same extent now. You have to trust the apps and OS you use. And iOS isn't exactly open source either.

I am saying the user can choose to select beacons to unlock their phone during a trip somewhere. The user CHOOSES to lock their phone in a way that requires things additional to the password, things that represent having made it safely past the security lol.

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