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Throwaway account. I can confirm the whole yelling thing at LAX. I am a US citizen and travel frequently. A few years ago I returned from a trip at LAX, sent

Throwaway account. I can confirm the whole yelling thing at LAX. I am a US citizen and travel frequently. A few years ago I returned from a trip at LAX, sent to the secondary inspection area, and yelled at by the CBP officer while going through my items. Then came the full media search, which took a few hours. What made things worse is I am a co-founder of a VPN company and had with me source code, client data, encrypted backups, medical records, and other sensitive data on my phone, laptop and USB drives which I assume they inspected (and copied?) during their search. I have since passed through LAX on many occasion without further searches, however it was a shocking experience that causes me a great deal of stress to this day whenever I think about going though that airport.

ComputerGuru 8y ago
Good thing you used a throwaway because I can’t believe you didn’t refuse consent to the search if you’re an American citizen (I have). I wouldn’t want to trust your company with my info.
- magnetic 8y ago
  Could you tell us what happened when you refused consent at the border?
  - ComputerGuru 8y ago
    This was at ORD, which I've found (perhaps it's just one of the benefits of being in the midwest) to be a very friendly port of arrival for international flights. I was asked aside for an "interview" upon landing (I'm a US citizen living in Chicago) by two agents, who asked if I had a phone and then asked me to give it to them. I politely but firmly said "I do, but I'm not comfortable unlocking it." They asked why, and a I responded that it's highly personal and that I would be happy to help them in any other way, but I believed I would be within my rights to refuse them access. They didn't push it further, but I was detained for three hours or so while they asked pointless questions they already had the answers to. My phone didn't leave my person during that time, though at one point they asked for some contact information that I said was only available on my phone, which I unlocked in front of them, retrieved, then pointedly relocked and put away.

ComputerGuru 8y ago

Good thing you used a throwaway because I can’t believe you didn’t refuse consent to the search if you’re an American citizen (I have). I wouldn’t want to trust your company with my info.

magnetic 8y ago
Could you tell us what happened when you refused consent at the border?
- ComputerGuru 8y ago
  This was at ORD, which I've found (perhaps it's just one of the benefits of being in the midwest) to be a very friendly port of arrival for international flights. I was asked aside for an "interview" upon landing (I'm a US citizen living in Chicago) by two agents, who asked if I had a phone and then asked me to give it to them. I politely but firmly said "I do, but I'm not comfortable unlocking it." They asked why, and a I responded that it's highly personal and that I would be happy to help them in any other way, but I believed I would be within my rights to refuse them access. They didn't push it further, but I was detained for three hours or so while they asked pointless questions they already had the answers to. My phone didn't leave my person during that time, though at one point they asked for some contact information that I said was only available on my phone, which I unlocked in front of them, retrieved, then pointedly relocked and put away.