[mynegation]

I immediately thought the same thing upon reading. One thing that comes to mind is: automatically triggered data destruction. If laptop or the phone detects non-owner access attempts and destroys data on its own, is it destruction of evidence? Owner did not do it, and it was there just to protect from the real bad guys: corporate spies, identity thieves.

[CJefferson]

The law often uses intention. Could you convince a jury of your peers you didn't do this just to hide your stuff from law enforcement?

[_archon_]

The obvious rebuttal is that you did this to hide your stuff from EVERYONE. Criminal mens rea doesn't exist; you're just a citizen who likes his privacy.

[bzbarsky]

Yes, if it was the default OS behavior. Which is the argument the article makes.

[throwawayish]

> is it destruction of evidence?

I'd say that depends on how much you pissed persecuting entities off.