Not sure why you have been downvoted, since it is a valid question and you phrased it in a productive way. I think the reason people focus on border searching

Not sure why you have been downvoted, since it is a valid question and you phrased it in a productive way. I think the reason people focus on border searching so much is that it's presumed to be one of the easiest entry points for the government to spy on you. Many security researchers, such as people who work on Tor and related technologies, have had their electronics searched and sometimes seized at the border. That makes it particularly relevant to the HN crowd. For me, I seriously doubt the government would ever be interested in my data. But imagine that the CEO of my company is suspected of some kind of crime. Perhaps when I am at the border they try to image my phone, in order to get access to things which may allow them to control other company assets (servers, etc), which would get them closer to their target. I doubt it would ever happen to me, but I'd rather take precautions. Being searched at the border seems much more likely to me than, say, the NSA/FBI targeting me remotely with malware.