CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Visitors to New Zealand can be fined 5,000 New Zealand dollars ($3,243) for refusing to provide passwords to unlock electronic devices to allow customs officials to examine them under a new law that a civil liberties group condemned as a grave invasion of privacy.
The law came into effect on Oct. 1 as part of an update of customs legislation. It also gives customs officials authority to copy data found on searched devices.
The New Zealand Council for Civil Liberties said in a statement Thursday the law gives customs officials the power to force travelers to unlock their smartphones without justification and without giving legal options to travelers to challenge the order. It said the law invades the privacy of device owners and anyone they communicated with.
