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Border Force asks to search your phone arriving in Australia – what can you do?

16 points by dannyw 5y ago

hulitu 5y ago
Comply ? Or face the consequences. :) > What agencies can access that stored data? Mr Hannay said any Commonwealth agency had the power to access that data, and they had the power to provide it to a state agency. "But China is worse". But you are not in China. Some years ago US did the same thing. When people realise that all their rights are gone it will be too late.
jqpabc123 5y ago
Once you're at the border it's a little late to do anything but comply. What you should have done is prepare in advance by using encrypted online storage for any sort of "sensitive" data. Delete any access app from your phone before arriving at the border. Re-connect once you're back inside the country. For the super paranoid, don't take your phone with you. Buy a burner phone in the new country and use it to access data online. Wipe it clean and leave it behind when you exit. Border policies like these are easily circumvented and effectively useless in the open internet age. Unless you're visiting an internet lockdown country like China, these policies only serve to entrap the most naive and disengaged.
Irongirl1 5y ago
What happens if you literally do not have a smartphone and have no need of one? Do they refuse to allow you to enter? I guess it's lucky I've never really wanted to visit Australia....
- vanusa 5y ago
  You should prepare to have your person and belongings invasively searched, at the very least. And to experience feigned incredulity and other display so of attitude, on top. That's why a burner phone is probably your best bet. Especially if you have, you know, anything to "hide".
  - Irongirl1 5y ago
    Oh, ok, but just so you know I wasn't being facetious. I'm a INTJ...extreme introvert with serious people issues.. I don't have a phone because I have no one to call and I literally have no use for one. I really wanted to know what would happen because I read an article a few years back (yes, I know it may have been hogwash) about people having the same problems getting back into the USA who had refused phone searches. It seems to be a slowly creeping thing amongst Five Eyes countries.... so I was wondering if anyone had any direct experience.
    - vanusa 5y ago
      Direct experience, no. Just going by my own hunches here. And the observation that, across the board - a lot of people these days seem to not understand the concept that someone would willfully choose not to carry a smartphone. Ergo, if you say you don't have one, you must be lying.
      - Irongirl1 5y ago
        No, I own one. It's a Blackberry Z10, but I no longer use it because I bought a tablet with a radio chip and now my SO works from home. He was the only person I ever needed to call...so I have become used to not having it on a regular basis. Plus I prefer the larger screen of my tab.

16 points by dannyw 5y ago

Comply ? Or face the consequences. :) > What agencies can access that stored data? Mr Hannay said any Commonwealth agency had the power to access that data, and they had the power to provide it to a state agency. "But China is worse". But you are not in China. Some years ago US did the same thing. When people realise that all their rights are gone it will be too late.

jqpabc123 5y ago

Once you're at the border it's a little late to do anything but comply. What you should have done is prepare in advance by using encrypted online storage for any sort of "sensitive" data. Delete any access app from your phone before arriving at the border. Re-connect once you're back inside the country. For the super paranoid, don't take your phone with you. Buy a burner phone in the new country and use it to access data online. Wipe it clean and leave it behind when you exit. Border policies like these are easily circumvented and effectively useless in the open internet age. Unless you're visiting an internet lockdown country like China, these policies only serve to entrap the most naive and disengaged.

Irongirl1 5y ago

What happens if you literally do not have a smartphone and have no need of one? Do they refuse to allow you to enter? I guess it's lucky I've never really wanted to visit Australia....

vanusa 5y ago
You should prepare to have your person and belongings invasively searched, at the very least. And to experience feigned incredulity and other display so of attitude, on top. That's why a burner phone is probably your best bet. Especially if you have, you know, anything to "hide".
- Irongirl1 5y ago
  Oh, ok, but just so you know I wasn't being facetious. I'm a INTJ...extreme introvert with serious people issues.. I don't have a phone because I have no one to call and I literally have no use for one. I really wanted to know what would happen because I read an article a few years back (yes, I know it may have been hogwash) about people having the same problems getting back into the USA who had refused phone searches. It seems to be a slowly creeping thing amongst Five Eyes countries.... so I was wondering if anyone had any direct experience.
  - vanusa 5y ago
    Direct experience, no. Just going by my own hunches here. And the observation that, across the board - a lot of people these days seem to not understand the concept that someone would willfully choose not to carry a smartphone. Ergo, if you say you don't have one, you must be lying.
    - Irongirl1 5y ago
      No, I own one. It's a Blackberry Z10, but I no longer use it because I bought a tablet with a radio chip and now my SO works from home. He was the only person I ever needed to call...so I have become used to not having it on a regular basis. Plus I prefer the larger screen of my tab.