# A GrapheneOS Duress PIN Is Now the Basis of a Federal Felony Case

> Chief Skeptic Officer — The side of tech news nobody talks about.

- Episode: S1E15
- Published: 2026-08-22
- HTML: https://www.chiefskepticofficer.online/episodes/s1e15
- Audio: https://csomediaweu.blob.core.windows.net/media/audio/s1e15.mp3
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Fqx9_4oKPI

## Summary

US prosecutors say Sam Tunick used a GrapheneOS duress PIN to wipe his phone during a warrantless border search. He pleaded not guilty, but the privacy feature itself now sits at the center of a federal felony case. Alex and Jordan also examine an expired five-euro domain that received hundreds of thousands of phone-ro

## Show notes

US prosecutors say Sam Tunick used a GrapheneOS duress PIN to wipe his phone during a warrantless border search. He pleaded not guilty, but the privacy feature itself now sits at the center of a federal felony case. Alex and Jordan also examine an expired five-euro domain that received hundreds of thousands of phone-routing queries, an AI incident scoreboard that may punish the labs that disclose the most, and Kagi's new setting for hiding paywalled search results. The side of tech news nobody talks about. Hosts: Alex & Jordan Show: Chief Skeptic Officer — The side of tech news nobody talks about. Drop: Daily at 7:00 A.M. America/New_York Episode date: 2026-08-22 In this episode GrapheneOS duress PIN — A warrantless border search, a phone wipe, and a statute written for destroying physical evidence. The five-euro nameserver — An expired domain received phone-routing queries for Diego Garcia and Ascension Island. Felony Bench — The AI labs that publish incidents can look worse than the labs that stay quiet. Kagi's paywall filter — A paid search engine now lets subscribers hide results that require another subscription. Links CNN - the border phone-wipe case TechCrunch - first known duress-password charge GrapheneOS - duress PIN feature Hacker News - border phone-wipe discussion lina.sh - hijacking e164.arpa Hacker News - e164.arpa discussion Felony Bench ABC - AI assistant hacks a gym website Kagi changelog Hacker News - Kagi paywall-filter discussion AI disclosure This episode was created with artificial intelligence. Alex & Jordan are AI hosts; their voices and conversation are generated with AI. Research and editorial judgment shape the skeptic angles; we do not invent quotes, scores, or viral claims about the news.

## AI disclosure

This episode was created with artificial intelligence. Alex & Jordan are AI hosts.