The UK gets hold of internal Facebook documents

[rslade]

The British Parliament has been able to obtain internal Facebook documents, even though Facebook didn't want to give them up, and they were sealed by a judge in California.

If you don't like Facebook, you can can enjoy the schadenfreude in Facebook's continuing troubles.  If you do like Facebook, you can take this as a warning that there is more than one way to skin a cat (or obtain confidential information).

Regardless of how you feel about Facebook, it's a warning about wandering around with really sensitive information on your laptop ...

[Flyslinger2]

I read this earlier this morning and what stands out to me is Britain's disregard for the American court order.  Britain strong-armed the guy to hand the docs over.  

If the tables were turned I'm sure Britain wouldn't be happy if the U.S. ignored a court ordered lock on files to preserve the integrity of a court case.

[rslade]

> Flyslinger2 (Contributor II) posted a new reply in Industry News on 11-26-2018

>    If the tables were turned I'm sure Britain wouldn't be happy
> if the U.S. ignored a court ordered lock on files to preserve the integrity of a
> court case.

Oh, please. US media reguarly ignores Canadian publication bans. You can't
seriously complain about *that* ...

====================== (quote inserted randomly by Pegasus Mailer)
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[CraginS]

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@rslade wrote:

Regardless of how you feel about Facebook, it's a warning about wandering around with really sensitive information on your laptop ...

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Rob,

As we have discussed in other arenas, astute use of a Chromebook can be a useful technique for data protection when travelling internationally. Powerwash the computer before arriving at any international border, so the computer itself is pristine, with no data on it beyond as the day it was purchased. To protect personal data, have two Google (GMail) accounts. Keep one light use with only innocuous mail and data on Google Drive. Use the other for full personal activity. If the local authorities are successful in coercing you into opening your account on the Chromebook, do so with the first account, only. 

To protect enterprise business data, have all business activity take place in a Citrix server farm  in your home country. Use the Citrix Receiver extension to chrome on your Chromebook to access that data and conduct all business. 

When ready to return home from the foreign county, Powerwash the computer again before leaving your local work location to travel home.

[CraginS]

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@Flyslinger2 wrote:

If the tables were turned I'm sure Britain wouldn't be happy if the U.S. ignored a court ordered lock on files to preserve the integrity of a court case.

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Mark,

(1) Laws and court orders in one nation have no authority or power in another nation unless there is a treaty between those nations explicitly holding the government authorities in one of the two nations responsible for following them. Note the way international extradition works for one example of such.

(2) In the specific situation of the USA and the UK, there have been news stories over recent years  indicating that each country may have quietly asked the other to conduct surveillance or other law enforcement actions against a citizen in order to bypass legal protection of their own citizens. Both NSA and GCHQ have been mentioned in such stories.