At the airport in New Zealand, a password on your phone and laptop is required on request

If you are planning to travel to New Zealand, expect that on return you may be forced to give your customs electrons and their passwords as "digital personal revision".

According to a New Zealand television report, customs officers working at Kiwi airports routinely force an average of two travelers a day to pass on their electronic devices and passwords to search their data. Customs agents say that, through this "digital personal search", they are looking for smugglers.

Allegedly, in order to do this type of search the customs officers do not need a court order. Agents claim that they comply with the provisions of the New Zealand Privacy Act and that they have the right to request the device to be unlocked on site. Currently, work is still underway on a draft law that will allow people who refuse to participate in the inspection to pay up to $ 5,000.

Digital personal search can be quick or in depth depending on the anticipated threat. One of the travelers, who was on his way back to Bali, was detained for five hours. As he said, the customs officers forced him to "feel like a terrorist". Typically, agents only analyze data for suspicious content, but admit that they sometimes copy and pass on the authorities and the police. As the customs chief informed, agents can confiscate travelers at any time. They even have tools that allow you to break parts of the security if they come across such.

Since 2015, more than 1,300 people have been detained and searched at the largest airports in New Zealand. Out of them only 300 came from this country. 360 people were citizens of China or Taiwan.