'The Government Doesn't Own Our Data': Prosecuted GrapheneOS User
Samuel Tunick, a 30-year-old musician and Georgia State geography graduate student, has been charged with obstruction after using GrapheneOS’s duress password feature during a January 2025 border search at Atlanta airport. Customs and Border Protection officers asked for his phone; he entered a passcode that wiped the device. Prosecutors say destroying data to block a lawful search can be prosecuted. Tunick says the case is about privacy and government overreach, and he hopes it sets a precedent that “the government doesn’t own our data.” Court filings later showed he had been placed on a watch list. He has pleaded not guilty and says the prosecution is tied to broader surveillance of activists and a wider domestic-terrorism framework. The charge carries up to five years in prison, and he has surrendered his passport while awaiting a ruling on his suppression motion.
