this post was submitted on 26 Aug 2026
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U.S. Citizen Who Deleted Phone’s Data Says His Prosecution Puts Privacy at Risk (www.nytimes.com)
submitted 4 days ago by sanitation@lemmy.today to c/technology@lemmy.world
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[–] WhyJiffie@sh.itjust.works 1 points 9 hours ago (1 children)

If yes, then we must look further...is the position (not the switch itself) of a binary switch (like a light switch) a physical thing that you can own? Would you consider it destroyed if it was switched away from it's original position?

the light switch is not something intended to store data, but the memory in your phone is. wiping the data destroys all the photos, media, logins, configuration on your phone, making them permanently and irreversibly inaccessible. and all of that is my property.

[–] Bytemeister@lemmy.world 1 points 3 hours ago

Light switches can store data. You can have open equal 1, and closed equal 0. Tada! You're storing data on a light switch. All you need to do, is allow an electrical signal to control the position of the switch, and you essentially have 1bit of data storage right there.