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Re:Uber remotely locked down offices during police raids, sh... by prklmn on Monday January 15, 2018 @06:26PM (#16154403)
Did you read the article? Please explain why you think it’s unauthorized access.

>> When the call came in, staffers quickly remotely logged off every computer in the Montreal office, making it practically impossible for the authorities to retrieve the company records they’d obtained a warrant to collect. The investigators left without any evidence.

Re:Uber remotely locked down offices during police raids, sh... by tomohawk on Monday January 15, 2018 @06:48PM (#16154542)
Determining authorized access is a process. Processes take time.

Just because some people in uniforms show up at your door and demand access, doesn't mean that's the entire process. Even if they have a nice piece of paper from a court, it's just the start of the process.

What if its just a ruse and they aren't really cops? What if they are cops, but the government is corrupt? What if the warrant was obtained in a faulty manner?

This sort of measure allows the company to engage with the process in a less disadvantaged way.

Re:Uber remotely locked down offices during police raids, sh... by booleandilemma on Monday January 15, 2018 @07:19PM (#16154709)
It also conveniently gives Uber more time to cover up whatever illegal activities they may have been up to.

This is the whole point of why police conduct raids:

...to use the element of surprise to arrest targets that they believe may hide contraband or other evidence, resist arrest, be politically sensitive, or simply be elsewhere during the day.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Police_raid

Re:Uber remotely locked down offices during police raids, sh... by dwild on Tuesday January 16, 2018 @11:52AM (#16159612)
How does it give them more time? Shouldn't the goal of seizure is to remove access to something to someone and remove him the capacity to alter evidence?

If he refuses to comply or try to alter the evidence while complying, sure, they are guilty and I'm pretty sure there's a legal process for this situation, but at this point right now if they seized the data, they can no longer alter it.

Re:Uber remotely locked down offices during police raids, sh... by wilburTheDog on Monday January 15, 2018 @07:34PM (#16154815)
Apparently Ripley doesn't wipe data from the computers. It just locks them. If the authorities have the legal right to seize them and compel Uber to give them access then all it bought Uber was some time to pursue legal remedies.
Re:Uber remotely locked down offices during police raids, sh... by protomyth on Monday January 15, 2018 @07:17PM (#16154702)
> What if its just a ruse and they aren't really cops?

Making a mistake in this regard gets you a obstruction of justice charge. Call a lawyers, but don't expect a judge not to take this badly when they have issued a warrant.

> What if they are cops, but the government is corrupt? What if the warrant was obtained in a faulty manner?

That's for the lawyers to deal with in court. Once again, obstruction of justice on a legally issued warrant is going to be bad news for you.

Re:Uber remotely locked down offices during police raids, sh... by notyourday on Tuesday January 16, 2018 @10:36AM (#16158879)
Uber is still operational in those countries and Uber execs dont have international arrest warrants of them. Based on that, it looks like Uber was correct in blocking access.
Re:Uber remotely locked down offices during police raids, sh... by 33W on Monday January 15, 2018 @06:35PM (#16154458)
I think the parent's point is that if there is a warrant to collect information, the machines can be seized and the company compelled to comply. This move prevents overreach in the moment.
Re:Uber remotely locked down offices during police raids, sh... by FireBeyond on Monday January 15, 2018 @07:35PM (#16154822)
This doesn't just prevent overreach, it prevents any collection. Also known as "obstruction" (and possibly "destruction").
Re:Uber remotely locked down offices during police raids, sh... by rayiner on Monday January 15, 2018 @07:52PM (#16154933)
So you want the police to start physically impounding property, instead of just getting the data it had a warrant to collect? How is that preventing overarch? It seems to be demanding it!
Re:Uber remotely locked down offices during police raids, sh... by Spivak on Tuesday January 16, 2018 @11:38AM (#16159458)
(If it were me) Yes! It's annoying as hell to have them haul off my workstations but I would much rather them seize the locked and encrypted data while legal has time to do the due-diligence on the warrant and come up with a plan for compliance.

I keep my head above water so I really don't really care if the police can access the data. I do have a problem with the raid giving them access to data well beyond the scope of their warrant and relying on the courts to pare it down after the fact.