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Wow - they advise employees to remove all company data from devices, leave the company 1password account, disable touch ID, and put their attorney on speed dial

Wow - they advise employees to remove all company data from devices, leave the company 1password account, disable touch ID, and put their attorney on speed dial every time they go through customs.

jameskegel 10y ago
This is the responsible thing to do in 2017.
SomeHacker44 10y ago
I don't go that far, but I do have all my hardware encrypted (MBP, iPhone, iPad) and I power these things off so that they will be unable to trivially decrypt them when I go through customs. I wish iDevices had a thing that would let me "double click" the power button to passcode-lock the device and disable TouchID until unlocked again. I don't use the TouchID on my MBP at all.
- maccard 10y ago
  I've only got one thumb set up for touch ID. If you use the wrong finger 3 times, it'll disable touch ID until you put your passcode in, so you could use your other hand 3 times before you enter the airport.
- tptacek 10y ago
  That's not enough: they can demand that you unlock the device at the border, including powering it on. If your battery is depleted, they'll give you a charger and wait. If you refuse, they can and will confiscate the devices. You can't outsmart them: for pretty much every major country, they're better at this than you are. They can do all of this even if you're a citizen. In the US, citizens (and, to a lesser but still meaningful extent, LPRs) cannot be denied entry to the country. But you can still lose all your devices. You can be detained, potentially overnight, no matter who you are. If you're not a citizen, you can be detained and then sent back without your devices. The only realistic answer is not to have sensitive data on your devices at the border at all, nor any indication of where your sensitive data is or any means of getting access to it.
  - toomuchtodo 10y ago
    It seems like the best course of action is to ship devices ahead of you and not transit the border with any tech on your person.
    - maccard 10y ago
      The best course of action is either don't travel to the US, or don't carry the devices at all. I wouldn't be surprised to find my electronics had been confiscated when importing them ahead of my travels.
      - tptacek 10y ago
        With just a few possible exceptions, the real rule you're advocating for is "don't travel internationally with electronic devices". Your protections in most of Europe are also not great, and the big .EU countries are if anything more hair-trigger about sending people back. Agree or not, really all I'm saying is: "don't try to leverage your superior tech skills to outsmart customs". You are probably better at tech than the customs agent you talk to first at the border. You are not better than the customs department as a whole. Money buys a lot of tech ability, and countries have a lot of money.
      - toomuchtodo 10y ago
        I'm a US citizen who lives in the US. Not traveling to the US is not an option.
        slantyyz 10y ago
        >> I'm a US citizen who lives in the US. Not traveling to the US is not an option. Why isn't it an option? The only way for you to "travel to the US" is to leave the US in the first place. You have the option to not travel outside of the US. AFAIK, while you have to deal with the TSA, you don't have to deal with customs/immigration for domestic flights.
        10y ago
run4yourlives2 10y ago
It's smart, but that also struck me... this is the USA we're talking about. I used to be able to enter that country with a driver's licence and a hello. Amazing how things have changed.
richardwhiuk 10y ago
Yeah - https://github.com/basecamp/handbook/blob/master/international-travel-guide.md https://github.com/basecamp/handbook/blob/master/internation... - ouch. It feels like this has changed a lot in a very small number of years. Does anyone know how common it is to actually be put through this rigmorole?
- mahyarm 10y ago
  I'm guessing very uncommon, but still a possibility.

Wow - they advise employees to remove all company data from devices, leave the company 1password account, disable touch ID, and put their attorney on speed dial every time they go through customs.

jameskegel 10y ago

This is the responsible thing to do in 2017.

SomeHacker44 10y ago

I don't go that far, but I do have all my hardware encrypted (MBP, iPhone, iPad) and I power these things off so that they will be unable to trivially decrypt them when I go through customs. I wish iDevices had a thing that would let me "double click" the power button to passcode-lock the device and disable TouchID until unlocked again. I don't use the TouchID on my MBP at all.

maccard 10y ago
I've only got one thumb set up for touch ID. If you use the wrong finger 3 times, it'll disable touch ID until you put your passcode in, so you could use your other hand 3 times before you enter the airport.
tptacek 10y ago
That's not enough: they can demand that you unlock the device at the border, including powering it on. If your battery is depleted, they'll give you a charger and wait. If you refuse, they can and will confiscate the devices. You can't outsmart them: for pretty much every major country, they're better at this than you are. They can do all of this even if you're a citizen. In the US, citizens (and, to a lesser but still meaningful extent, LPRs) cannot be denied entry to the country. But you can still lose all your devices. You can be detained, potentially overnight, no matter who you are. If you're not a citizen, you can be detained and then sent back without your devices. The only realistic answer is not to have sensitive data on your devices at the border at all, nor any indication of where your sensitive data is or any means of getting access to it.
- toomuchtodo 10y ago
  It seems like the best course of action is to ship devices ahead of you and not transit the border with any tech on your person.
  - maccard 10y ago
    The best course of action is either don't travel to the US, or don't carry the devices at all. I wouldn't be surprised to find my electronics had been confiscated when importing them ahead of my travels.
    - tptacek 10y ago
      With just a few possible exceptions, the real rule you're advocating for is "don't travel internationally with electronic devices". Your protections in most of Europe are also not great, and the big .EU countries are if anything more hair-trigger about sending people back. Agree or not, really all I'm saying is: "don't try to leverage your superior tech skills to outsmart customs". You are probably better at tech than the customs agent you talk to first at the border. You are not better than the customs department as a whole. Money buys a lot of tech ability, and countries have a lot of money.
    - toomuchtodo 10y ago
      I'm a US citizen who lives in the US. Not traveling to the US is not an option.
      - slantyyz 10y ago
        >> I'm a US citizen who lives in the US. Not traveling to the US is not an option. Why isn't it an option? The only way for you to "travel to the US" is to leave the US in the first place. You have the option to not travel outside of the US. AFAIK, while you have to deal with the TSA, you don't have to deal with customs/immigration for domestic flights.
        10y ago

run4yourlives2 10y ago

It's smart, but that also struck me... this is the USA we're talking about. I used to be able to enter that country with a driver's licence and a hello. Amazing how things have changed.

richardwhiuk 10y ago

Yeah - https://github.com/basecamp/handbook/blob/master/international-travel-guide.md https://github.com/basecamp/handbook/blob/master/internation... - ouch. It feels like this has changed a lot in a very small number of years. Does anyone know how common it is to actually be put through this rigmorole?

mahyarm 10y ago
I'm guessing very uncommon, but still a possibility.