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Is there a SaaS provider specializing in storing encrypted images of phones? The idea being that before you travel, you upload the encrypted image and wipe the

Is there a SaaS provider specializing in storing encrypted images of phones? The idea being that before you travel, you upload the encrypted image and wipe the phone, then after passing through customs you restore.

JumpCrisscross 8y ago
> before you travel, you upload the encrypted image and wipe the phone, then after passing through customs you restore That sounds like willfully evading customs, which is a serious crime.
- seba_dos1 8y ago
  I wipe some of my phones on regular basis and sometimes restore their data from backups (or not).
  - JumpCrisscross 8y ago
    > I wipe some of my phones on regular basis and sometimes restore their data from backups I do too. But if you systematically do that before going through customs, with the intention of denying a customs agent the data, that's a different intent. Intent matters when it comes to the law.
- toomuchtodo 8y ago
  Have a citation? Because if that's the case, everyone is suggesting evading US customs, out in the open: https://www.google.com/search?q=wiping+phone+prior+to+customs https://www.google.com/search?q=wiping+phone+prior+to+custom... It's even in Basecamp's international travel manual: https://github.com/basecamp/handbook/blob/master/international-travel-guide.md#tldr-dont-travel-with-work-data https://github.com/basecamp/handbook/blob/master/internation...
- pythonaut_16 8y ago
  I'm not so sure it's that clear. (I'm not a lawyer) If you can lawfully download a phone image over the internet while in the country and you can lawfully enter the country with no or limited digital information on your person then I don't see how backing up your phone in a different country (where New Zealand has no jurisdiction) and legally downloading the backup in New Zealand is evading customs. Another (presumably) legal scenarios would include backing up all of your data, carrying no phone into the country, and then purchasing one while there. Is that "evading customs"?
  - JumpCrisscross 8y ago
    Neither am I a lawyer, but the key part is if you're (a) doing this as a regular security precaution or (b) doing it specifically to evade customs. If it's the latter, it's probably illegal. If it's being done for legal reasons, it's legal. Something I've noticed those of us who work with computers having difficult with when it comes to the law is the way intent changes the legality of an action. Wiring money to person X is generally legal, unless done so for the purpose of acquiring illegal contraband. At that point, both the illegal acquisition and the wire become illegal.
    - clubm8 8y ago
      Neither am I a lawyer, but the key part is if you're (a) doing this as a regular security precaution or (b) doing it specifically to evade customs. If it's the latter, it's probably illegal. If it's being done for legal reasons, it's legal. Twice now you've expressed this belief. Please share some primary sources that inform your beliefs.
- tomp 8y ago
  So taking a knife out of my pocket and leaving it at home before boarding a plane is a serious crime?
  - ashelmire 8y ago
    Hey everybody, this individual is evading customs!
- clubm8 8y ago
  >That sounds like willfully evading customs, which is a serious crime. Do you have any citations or evidence that choosing to back up this line of thinking? I'd love to read more about the specifics of how downloading legal data from the internet suddenly becomes illegal if you could have carried it across the border. For example, if once in NZ I pull down new music onto my device from my iTunes cloud library to replace what I listened to on the plane, is this "evading customs"? Please provide citations to the specific law(s) I'm breaking by doing so, and how downloading the legally purchased music would be any different from a PC image. Thanks!
deleted 8y ago
[deleted]
tspike 8y ago
For what it's worth, iCloud provides this for Apple devices.
tomp 8y ago
Apple? Upload to iCloud (it's supposed to be encrypted!), wipe, restore.
- maxxxxx 8y ago
  How about Android?
  - tomp 8y ago
    Google surely has all your data but I've no idea how you can get it back.
crazygringo 8y ago
I don't think you need a special provider... at least on an iPhone, it only takes a few taps to wipe it, and then when you restart it, it immediately gives you the option of logging in with your Apple ID and restoring from your last backup (which is automatically made nightly, and reportedly encrypted).
- mcculley 8y ago
  I use the iCloud Backup feature on my iPhone. It does not back up every night. It seems to be every other day or so. Right now, it reports that my phone was last successfully backed up 26.5 hours ago.
  - laken 8y ago
    My understanding that it tries to do a backup every 24 hours, but only if it is both connected to a power source and on Wi-Fi.
    - mcculley 8y ago
      That was also my expectation. I leave my phone plugged into the charger and on Wi-Fi every night while I sleep. Nevertheless, the iCloud Backup status usually shows that the last successful backup was more than 24 hours ago.
- gruez 8y ago
  a few months later: >New Zealand travellers refusing to give up icloud/google passwords now face $5000 Customs fine

JumpCrisscross 8y ago

> before you travel, you upload the encrypted image and wipe the phone, then after passing through customs you restore That sounds like willfully evading customs, which is a serious crime.

seba_dos1 8y ago
I wipe some of my phones on regular basis and sometimes restore their data from backups (or not).
- JumpCrisscross 8y ago
  > I wipe some of my phones on regular basis and sometimes restore their data from backups I do too. But if you systematically do that before going through customs, with the intention of denying a customs agent the data, that's a different intent. Intent matters when it comes to the law.
toomuchtodo 8y ago
Have a citation? Because if that's the case, everyone is suggesting evading US customs, out in the open: https://www.google.com/search?q=wiping+phone+prior+to+customs https://www.google.com/search?q=wiping+phone+prior+to+custom... It's even in Basecamp's international travel manual: https://github.com/basecamp/handbook/blob/master/international-travel-guide.md#tldr-dont-travel-with-work-data https://github.com/basecamp/handbook/blob/master/internation...
pythonaut_16 8y ago
I'm not so sure it's that clear. (I'm not a lawyer) If you can lawfully download a phone image over the internet while in the country and you can lawfully enter the country with no or limited digital information on your person then I don't see how backing up your phone in a different country (where New Zealand has no jurisdiction) and legally downloading the backup in New Zealand is evading customs. Another (presumably) legal scenarios would include backing up all of your data, carrying no phone into the country, and then purchasing one while there. Is that "evading customs"?
- JumpCrisscross 8y ago
  Neither am I a lawyer, but the key part is if you're (a) doing this as a regular security precaution or (b) doing it specifically to evade customs. If it's the latter, it's probably illegal. If it's being done for legal reasons, it's legal. Something I've noticed those of us who work with computers having difficult with when it comes to the law is the way intent changes the legality of an action. Wiring money to person X is generally legal, unless done so for the purpose of acquiring illegal contraband. At that point, both the illegal acquisition and the wire become illegal.
  - clubm8 8y ago
    Neither am I a lawyer, but the key part is if you're (a) doing this as a regular security precaution or (b) doing it specifically to evade customs. If it's the latter, it's probably illegal. If it's being done for legal reasons, it's legal. Twice now you've expressed this belief. Please share some primary sources that inform your beliefs.
tomp 8y ago
So taking a knife out of my pocket and leaving it at home before boarding a plane is a serious crime?
- ashelmire 8y ago
  Hey everybody, this individual is evading customs!
clubm8 8y ago
>That sounds like willfully evading customs, which is a serious crime. Do you have any citations or evidence that choosing to back up this line of thinking? I'd love to read more about the specifics of how downloading legal data from the internet suddenly becomes illegal if you could have carried it across the border. For example, if once in NZ I pull down new music onto my device from my iTunes cloud library to replace what I listened to on the plane, is this "evading customs"? Please provide citations to the specific law(s) I'm breaking by doing so, and how downloading the legally purchased music would be any different from a PC image. Thanks!

deleted 8y ago

[deleted]

tspike 8y ago

For what it's worth, iCloud provides this for Apple devices.

tomp 8y ago

Apple? Upload to iCloud (it's supposed to be encrypted!), wipe, restore.

maxxxxx 8y ago
How about Android?
- tomp 8y ago
  Google surely has all your data but I've no idea how you can get it back.

crazygringo 8y ago

I don't think you need a special provider... at least on an iPhone, it only takes a few taps to wipe it, and then when you restart it, it immediately gives you the option of logging in with your Apple ID and restoring from your last backup (which is automatically made nightly, and reportedly encrypted).

mcculley 8y ago
I use the iCloud Backup feature on my iPhone. It does not back up every night. It seems to be every other day or so. Right now, it reports that my phone was last successfully backed up 26.5 hours ago.
- laken 8y ago
  My understanding that it tries to do a backup every 24 hours, but only if it is both connected to a power source and on Wi-Fi.
  - mcculley 8y ago
    That was also my expectation. I leave my phone plugged into the charger and on Wi-Fi every night while I sleep. Nevertheless, the iCloud Backup status usually shows that the last successful backup was more than 24 hours ago.
gruez 8y ago
a few months later: >New Zealand travellers refusing to give up icloud/google passwords now face $5000 Customs fine