5 ms·

This happened to me crossing into Canada and to be honest I really wasn't expecting it. I had tons of very private pictures and messages on there stretching bac

This happened to me crossing into Canada and to be honest I really wasn't expecting it. I had tons of very private pictures and messages on there stretching back years. I really didn't want to turn over my password so that 3 border agents could look through all that stuff in some back room, but at the same time I knew there wasn't anything illegal on there. Anyway, I was with my partner and didn't want to ruin her vacation as well so we just turned over our passwords (under threat of detention if we didn't). In any case, if you find yourself in this unfortunate situation (you shouldn't - you should travel with an empty phone when crossing the border, or at least wipe it before crossing then do a restore over icloud later), here's something you can do: Before going in (if you have an iphone), make sure you have a strong alphanumeric passcode. Enable auto-wipe on 10 incorrect passcode attempts. Then, turn the phone off. If CBP then asks to turn your phone on and wants your password, appear eager to comply, but give them an incorrect one, and when that doesn't work, admit that you had just changed it a few days ago to something more secure and that you may have forgotten it, but don't worry, you always just use the thumbprint to unlock the phone anyway and volunteer to open it that way. Always appears helpful. The phone still won't unlock because iphone requires passcode entry after restart. If they ask why you turned the phone off, just say that's what you normally do when entering border control. Unless you're under some kind of serious suspicion of some kind at this time, they're unlikely to detain you for forgetting your phone password, and even if so, it's locked with a strong passcode so there's no much they can do anyway.

ashark 10y ago
Or instead of going through a bunch of effort in order to risk pissing off border agents with shenanigans, you can buy a dirt-cheap Android phone for travel. Bonus: then you don't have to worry about it being stolen, lost, or broken, either. It'd be a sensible move even without the border search risk. Incidentally, is this limited to phones? Are they only searching these accounts because they're authed to the phone they make you unlock? Or are they saying "oh, OK, so you're traveling without a phone. Please step over to this kiosk and log into your Facebook account" as well?
- jrochkind1 10y ago
  do you have a dirt-cheap android to recommend?
  - JBReefer 10y ago
    Moto G4
    - funnyfacts365 10y ago
      A Moto E 2013 is still pretty usable... Using one right now.
  - ashark 10y ago
    Moto G4 Play if you want something that's not totally disposable but is also sort-of an OK phone, by cheap Android phone standards. ~$130, which is pretty cheap for someone from the US on HN, most likely. You'd be sad to lose it but not that sad. If you want an Android smartphone that's really cheap go to Wal-Mart. Unlocked Android phones south of $60. If you can do without a smartphone you can get a dumb or feature phone for ~$10-$30. There might even be better deals on Aliexpress or somewhere similar if you shop around.
    - jrochkind1 10y ago
      Nice, that's pretty much what I had identified too. I had been focusing on the full Moto G4, which is like $200, hadn't realized the G4 Play could be had for $130 no contract. I would call neither _dirt cheap_ for _my_ budget, but that is what I had arrived at as the cheapest possible that is still usable too. "Dirt" cheap, not for me, or probably most Americans, but what can you do. (FWIW, I think it's no longer possible to get a dumbphone that will work on AT&T for $10-$30, now that AT&T turned off 2G and requires 3G even for voice. More like $60-$80 at the very lowest end that will work on AT&T. Don't know about internationally. :( )
- haswell 10y ago
  When I'm traveling (which is often), I NEED my "good" phone. Maybe a cheap Android phone would be feasible for occasional recreational travel, but this is not a solution for many. Better to have easily restorable backups and just wipe & configure as a "new" device (not connected to cloud services) before entry. Restore from backup when you get home. This is actually pretty painless these days. Sad that it's necessary.
ekiru 10y ago
Recognizing when people are lying is an important part of CBP's job. They're trained specifically to do it. It's unlikely that you're better at lying than they are at noticing that you're lie. Lying to them will end poorly.
- refurb 10y ago
  You raise a really good point. CBP deals with people lying to them every second of every day. If you think a "oops! I must have forgotten the password" will work, you're in for a rude surprise.
- thaumasiotes 10y ago
  > Recognizing when people are lying is an important part of CBP's job. They're trained specifically to do it. That's true. However, the evidence that people who are trained to recognize lying do any better at it than random people off the street is -- putting things mildly -- not strong. If they notice you're lying, it will be because you contradicted something they already knew or because you were bad at lying, not because they were trained to recognize it.
- abandonliberty 10y ago
  They're not actually very good at this. Keep your responses to the shortest simplest truth. Your goal is to be boring and unremarkable as everyone else. Anything more frustrates and angers them.
cmrdporcupine 10y ago
Honestly -- do not lie to border agents. Do not do anything illegal or even with a smell of dishonesty while talking to agents on foreign soil, or even to agents of your own country. Travel with a safe, clean device, if you travel with a device at all. If it is your employer's device, cooperate and then tell your employer's lawyers what happened. Stay safe, especially if you're a minority of any kind.
MaxfordAndSons 10y ago
Sorry that happened to you, but that is just not good advice. Trying to fool them at all isn't advisable, and your suggested scheme involves multiple levels of deception - lying both about what you did and what your intent was, trying to appear eager to help when you're not. Most normal people are not such skilled liars, whereas border agents are always on the lookout for deception. Also "just say that's what you normally do when entering border control" goes against the image you're trying to create.

ashark 10y ago

Or instead of going through a bunch of effort in order to risk pissing off border agents with shenanigans, you can buy a dirt-cheap Android phone for travel. Bonus: then you don't have to worry about it being stolen, lost, or broken, either. It'd be a sensible move even without the border search risk. Incidentally, is this limited to phones? Are they only searching these accounts because they're authed to the phone they make you unlock? Or are they saying "oh, OK, so you're traveling without a phone. Please step over to this kiosk and log into your Facebook account" as well?

jrochkind1 10y ago
do you have a dirt-cheap android to recommend?
- JBReefer 10y ago
  Moto G4
  - funnyfacts365 10y ago
    A Moto E 2013 is still pretty usable... Using one right now.
- ashark 10y ago
  Moto G4 Play if you want something that's not totally disposable but is also sort-of an OK phone, by cheap Android phone standards. ~$130, which is pretty cheap for someone from the US on HN, most likely. You'd be sad to lose it but not that sad. If you want an Android smartphone that's really cheap go to Wal-Mart. Unlocked Android phones south of $60. If you can do without a smartphone you can get a dumb or feature phone for ~$10-$30. There might even be better deals on Aliexpress or somewhere similar if you shop around.
  - jrochkind1 10y ago
    Nice, that's pretty much what I had identified too. I had been focusing on the full Moto G4, which is like $200, hadn't realized the G4 Play could be had for $130 no contract. I would call neither _dirt cheap_ for _my_ budget, but that is what I had arrived at as the cheapest possible that is still usable too. "Dirt" cheap, not for me, or probably most Americans, but what can you do. (FWIW, I think it's no longer possible to get a dumbphone that will work on AT&T for $10-$30, now that AT&T turned off 2G and requires 3G even for voice. More like $60-$80 at the very lowest end that will work on AT&T. Don't know about internationally. :( )
haswell 10y ago
When I'm traveling (which is often), I NEED my "good" phone. Maybe a cheap Android phone would be feasible for occasional recreational travel, but this is not a solution for many. Better to have easily restorable backups and just wipe & configure as a "new" device (not connected to cloud services) before entry. Restore from backup when you get home. This is actually pretty painless these days. Sad that it's necessary.

ekiru 10y ago

Recognizing when people are lying is an important part of CBP's job. They're trained specifically to do it. It's unlikely that you're better at lying than they are at noticing that you're lie. Lying to them will end poorly.

refurb 10y ago
You raise a really good point. CBP deals with people lying to them every second of every day. If you think a "oops! I must have forgotten the password" will work, you're in for a rude surprise.
thaumasiotes 10y ago
> Recognizing when people are lying is an important part of CBP's job. They're trained specifically to do it. That's true. However, the evidence that people who are trained to recognize lying do any better at it than random people off the street is -- putting things mildly -- not strong. If they notice you're lying, it will be because you contradicted something they already knew or because you were bad at lying, not because they were trained to recognize it.
abandonliberty 10y ago
They're not actually very good at this. Keep your responses to the shortest simplest truth. Your goal is to be boring and unremarkable as everyone else. Anything more frustrates and angers them.

cmrdporcupine 10y ago

Honestly -- do not lie to border agents. Do not do anything illegal or even with a smell of dishonesty while talking to agents on foreign soil, or even to agents of your own country. Travel with a safe, clean device, if you travel with a device at all. If it is your employer's device, cooperate and then tell your employer's lawyers what happened. Stay safe, especially if you're a minority of any kind.

MaxfordAndSons 10y ago

Sorry that happened to you, but that is just not good advice. Trying to fool them at all isn't advisable, and your suggested scheme involves multiple levels of deception - lying both about what you did and what your intent was, trying to appear eager to help when you're not. Most normal people are not such skilled liars, whereas border agents are always on the lookout for deception. Also "just say that's what you normally do when entering border control" goes against the image you're trying to create.