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1. Backup phone 2. Encrypt backup 3. Upload encrypted backup to cloud server 4. Delete backup 5. Wipe phone back to factory settings 6. Cross border 7. Do
by jliptzin 9y ago
1. Backup phone
2. Encrypt backup
3. Upload encrypted backup to cloud server
4. Delete backup
5. Wipe phone back to factory settings
6. Cross border
7. Download backup from cloud
8. Decrypt backup
9. Restore phone
This is the only sane thing to do besides not crossing the border with an electronic device at all.
- loceng 9y agoAny software that does this all for you?
- ohthehugemanate 9y agoAndroid/Google does this extremely well. I've recently had to do a few factory resets trying to fix a hardware issue on my phone. Just turn on Google's backup service for apps and settings, let it finish syncing, and then factory reset. When you login to the fresh phone, it offers you that backup in the startup wizard. If you're on a good connection, restoring the backup is surprisingly fast.
- khedoros1 9y agoAlthough, I think that you can potentially lose a bunch of stuff, depending on how you use your phone. Like any app sideloaded or installed through another app store, the extra data chunks that lots of games download, data created by apps (subject to developer settings), loose files being stored on the phone, etc. I know that when I switched phones last year, there were a lot of manual steps moving between devices (the HTC transfer mechanism worked for most of that, but I still ended up moving some files manually).
- tedajax 9y agoDoes this effect 2FA auth at all? Will I need to remove all existing authenticators to accounts and then reenable after the factory reset?
- askvictor 9y agoProbably will affect them; best to ensure you have a backup auth method.
- ibrahima 9y agoYeah, you'll have to do that, or else go through the recovery process after the fact. My phone recently failed and I got a replacement, and I had to go through the 2FA recovery process for all my accounts after getting the new phone. LastPass was particularly annoying because their "lost my 2FA device" feature was broken when I tried to do it...
- linkregister 9y agoiCloud backup from the phone works well. Then factory reset. You can do this by yourself from iTunes from your computer if you don't want to pay for the iCloud storage fees. I don't know how to do it on a Google phone, does anyone have any suggestions? Edit: the other commenter knew.
- ultimoo 9y agoI have had to do this a couple of times in the past due to a broken screen and a broken battery. The hardest part was Google Authenticator wasn't automatically restored with all my accounts, and logging into each service to set it up again was tedious. I'm actually surprised I didn't manage to lock myself out of some service that was relying on Google Authenticator.
- Grazester 9y agoAm I obligated to give them my phone's password(finger print I know you basically are) or will they hold me indefinitely until I do?
- xeromal 9y agoYeah, that seems to be the case especially if you aren't a citizen.
- throw7 9y agoThe article said you don't have to, but your phone could be confiscated. (assuming you're a u.s. citizen, all bets off if you aren't.)
- fapjacks 9y agoIt wouldn't surprise me to hear if they detained a person for not doing it, but I would imagine at the very least they'd be denied entry into the country.
- bigbugbag 9y agoabout 20 years ago foreigners barely speaking english have been sent to US high security prisons with latinos gang members for an indefinite period of time without charge. This happened to this guy who had a business of super nintendo game genie or something. He spent several weeks in there before he got help from family worried he didn't give any news.
- smegel 9y agoWon't it arouse suspicions to have a clearly used, but blank phone?
- foldr 9y agoYes, this advice is daft. You are far better off just letting them read your boring emails, however much it (justifiably) irritates you.
- pesfandiar 9y agoAnd let seemingly innocuous things incriminate you in their eyes? I think this advice should hold true in this case too: never voluntarily talk to a police or let them in your home without a warrant.
- wuliwong 9y agoThat advice is very different than suggesting that every time I cross a border follow all those steps. The advice that would be similar would be to always have your home wiped of any information just incase the police come knocking at your door with a warrant.
- jliptzin 9y agoNo, when you cross the border you are at very high risk of having your electronic devices searched. It has happened to me crossing into Canada. If I got a call from the police saying that next Tuesday they would be executing a search warrant on my house, you can be sure I'd wipe everything clean just on the off chance someone planted something illegal without my knowledge.
- __jal 9y agoSure. And freely talk to cops with no lawyer - your life if boring, right? - too. Don't make waves. Keep your head down. The nail that sticks up gets the hammer. You can do whatever you want. Some of us prefer to live in a free country of laws and are willing to make a little noise now and then.
- xeromal 9y agoMy S7 has this thing called a secure folder. Basically a hidden phone with all its own apps and data. It's pretty nifty for situations like this.
- fuzzybeard 9y agoAs some experts have said, this is a terrible idea. The moment you say you have nothing on the phone to the agent (because you're a l33t clever haxor who can encrypt and hide it), you've committed a federal crime. Best not to have anything on the device, and then you're not lying when you say there's nothing on there.
- clarkmoody 9y agoYou probably commit a federal crime unintentionally every time you cross the border anyway :-/
- ucaetano 9y agoCBP Officer: Do you have any other apps and data on your phone besides these ones? Do you have any hidden apps and data on your phone? You: anything other that "yes" would probably be considered lying to a federal officer.
- mmagin 9y agoLet's see. Various phones are far easier to do this with than others. Also, how soon after I cross the border will I have network access again? Where will I have stored my decryption key -- not on my devices!
- fapjacks 9y agoYou could use a time-based and IP-based escrow. You don't get your data (or the key) until you are beyond a specific time and on a specific network. It's an interesting problem.
- s73ver 9y agoIf you have sensitive stuff on your phone. I don't. I have pictures of my balding head, and that's about it.
- bcook 9y agoThere's likely something on your phone that some government agency could find useful, whether or not you consider it sensitive.
- crypt1d 9y agoI would consider any device that's been through an inspection as potentially compromised as they could theoretically install a backdoor and access ur data later. Maybe just using some kind of a burner phone is better.
- mjevans 9y agoThey can already do this via singray and other cell tower acquisitions. You don't own the baseband firmware, therefore do not trust the device. The same is true of your desktop and likely router gear, but many of those at least require brief physical access to enable (however there's also in transit or baked in at the factory). If you want a truly secure device demand fully open.
- crypt1d 9y agoYes they could, but that would (usually) assume that I'm being targeted specifically by law enforcement. They could also access my data this way, but yet they choose to inspect my phone physically, on entry. What I'm more worried about is my data being accessed as part of yet another mass surveillance program. I'm not saying that is not already possible with other means, but I would certainly not want to make their job easier.
- pavel_lishin 9y agoHonestly, it depends on how paranoid you want to get. The hassle of me totally replacing a phone is not commensurate with the likelihood of the government bugging my phone - unless they're bugging all phones, at which point they're more likely to do so with OTA software updates, or another way to access it without requiring me to pass a border.
- crypt1d 9y agoYes, IT sec is sort of a rabbit hole. There is always another attack vector right under. If its not software, then its firmware, if its not firmware then its the chip..etc. Normally, you would consider where the biggest risk is and set up your security accordingly. Unfortunately, with such an intrusive, state-level actor, you have to assume the worst.
- bigbugbag 9y ago> 6. Cross border Worst possible advice. Actually: 6. get in trouble and be detained for interrogation at border 7. Miss your flight / be added to suspect list / have your electronics confiscated / be denied entry / be sent to US prisons for an indefinite period of time without charge You can choose more than one option for 7. I had my phone inspected by border agent who found highly suspicious that I had no text messages stored in there, then asked me to enter the password to decrypt my messaging app then proceeded to go through the messages. I ended up entering the country because I knew of this possible scenario and had planted messages in there just in case. I know it worked because when given my phone back it was still open on the very message planted for the purpose of convincing the agent. Also I mask my actual account on my laptop and create another with enough activity in it to pass for a real one. I'm not going back to the US anymore in my lifetime.
- askvictor 9y agoI can see a business opportunity for 'fake but believable device activity as a service'
- bobwaycott 9y agoI would really love to know more about how you do this message-planting and faux user activity stuff.
- majewsky 9y agoWhat about this alternative plan? 1. Leave phone at home How do they react to someone not carrying a phone at all?
- turc1656 9y agoThis might be a foolish question, but I was under the impression that if you had a strong pin/password and an encrypted device, there wasn't much they could do to get the data off the device, no? Won't modern phones (I have an Android) not allow you to see any data unless the device is unlocked? I know when I plug my device into the computer, it will only be in charge mode unless I unlock it and then switch to file transfer mode. Do the authorities have ways around that? Also important to note - the encryption would have to apply to any external expansion SD cards or else they can just remove the card and copy the data.
- outworlder 9y ago> Do the authorities have ways around that? Yes. The $5 wrench. https://www.xkcd.com/538/ https://www.xkcd.com/538/