4 ms·

Lot's of people fantasizing about what they'll do at the border with weaponizing the data on a burner phone. Let me present a "simpler" and actually realistic

Lot's of people fantasizing about what they'll do at the border with weaponizing the data on a burner phone. Let me present a "simpler" and actually realistic option (only for US citizens) on how to handle this: 1. Have a reasonable amount of emergency savings (6-8 months of expenses stored). 2. Have someone in-country who isn't traveling with you who can make sure your bills get paid (financial power of attorney). 3. Apply for Global Entry, which pre-clears you for border crossing. 4. Turn your phone /off/ when you land (usually a 15-20 minute walk to passport control in most airports). Powering off is important. 5. Refuse to provide the password, refuse to unlock. Provide all relevant travel documents and customs declarations, and allow free inspection of your baggage. 6. Wait... depends on the agent. Longest I've been detained was 2 days, most of the time they hem and haw for an hour or so and let you go. 7. Go on with your life. Step #1 and #2 is in case you get arrested, which will almost guarantee losing your job, at least for right then. Since you can clearly establish no priors and that you aren't a flight risk, getting bail and then finding another job should be relatively easy to do within 6-8 months for most of the HN crowd. Also, invest in pre-paid legal. Obviously, this is assuming things go mostly okay and you don't get murdered at the airport, however the realistic probability of this occurring is fantastically low (these types of crimes are almost always committed in the US by local law enforcement, not federal law enforcement, as feds undergo much more stringent requirements and aren't just your high school bully drunk on power with a gun). Steps #1 and #2 you should be doing anyway, just out of good financial sense. Step #3 you should do anyway if you're traveling internationally regularly just to make your life easier when black swan events don't happen. And Step #4 you should do EVERY time you are about to let your phone out of your possession, whether involving the government or not, because it prevents most forms of attacks against an encrypted device and disables biometric unlock (which can be coerced/forced/done when you are dead). The hardest step is honestly #7, because after what I've experienced in my travels (and let me tell you, the US CBP is MUCH MUCH more professional, courteous, and reasonable than many many other countries), nobody really believes you and there are way too many people that are apologists for the powerful. Governments, pretty much universally, suck. The only difference between whether you personally experience the suck or not is whether or not you happen to get randomly selected or fall outside the bounds of what the government expects of you. There is no requirement that you do anything "wrong" in either the moral or legal sense, to end up stuck in the suck. Embrace the suck early if you plan to exercise your rights, because doing so will bring the suck on to you full force, but if you're the self-righteous type at least you'll get some sense of satisfaction out of it.

rexreed 4y ago
Which country(s) other than the US were the most problematic / worst? Personally I've had more aggravation at the Canadian border than any European country.
- tristor 4y ago
  Many countries are worse to deal with than the US at the border during entry. Ironically, most of the worst ones are wealthy / "low corruption" countries, because they have well-paid, interested people at the border, who also don't like having their authority challenged in any way. The UK and Canada are both significantly worse to deal with than the US, probably my worst experience on entry though was Australia. IMO, the Australian government is maliciously incompetent at every level /and/ at the same time fastidiously aligned to their maliciously incompetent policies. A lot of folks in the West don't realize that Australia is closer to China than the US when it comes to digital freedom and privacy. All the less-wealthy and "more corrupt" places I've traveled were far easier to deal with at the border. It's happened so many times I've lost count that the border agent didn't even look at me /or/ my passport before stamping a random page and yelling "Next". This doesn't happen in countries where the person at the border is well-paid and engaged in their job, it happens when they are bored, disinterested, and just want to go home. With one exception, all my worst border experiences were in wealthy countries. The one exception I won't discuss in detail publicly, but it was while leaving, not arriving, and at any rate wasn't due to their border agency but rather their secret police mistaking me for a journalist. Another observation I have is that only foreigners really get the worst treatment, so this may be why I haven't felt so badly about the US CBP, while I hear from my non-American friends and acquaintances that the US is the worst one to deal with. I'm sure any citizens of the countries I've mentioned will be quick to defend them in the comments in reply. After all, when you're a citizen, it's generally pretty painless to get back into the country of your citizenship. As a foreigner you face more scrutiny and have less legal protections.
  - kennend3 4y ago
    I'm Canadian and lived in the US for 5 years and crossed back and forth at least once a month. I agree, Canada's border crossing is worse. I've crossed the US with underage children without their mother present several times. US customs hauled the kids out of the car and took them to a secure location and asked them where they are going, if their mother knows where they are, etc. This makes perfect sense and I'm glad the US customs officers took the time to do this. They are doing their job, preventing child abductions, etc and it was outstanding to see it being done. Entering Canada it seems they only care about one thing : What do you have they can tax you on. I wont be surprised to see the day when Canada measures how much gas is in your car, and if it exceeds an arbitrary amount tax you on this too.

rexreed 4y ago

Which country(s) other than the US were the most problematic / worst? Personally I've had more aggravation at the Canadian border than any European country.

tristor 4y ago
Many countries are worse to deal with than the US at the border during entry. Ironically, most of the worst ones are wealthy / "low corruption" countries, because they have well-paid, interested people at the border, who also don't like having their authority challenged in any way. The UK and Canada are both significantly worse to deal with than the US, probably my worst experience on entry though was Australia. IMO, the Australian government is maliciously incompetent at every level /and/ at the same time fastidiously aligned to their maliciously incompetent policies. A lot of folks in the West don't realize that Australia is closer to China than the US when it comes to digital freedom and privacy. All the less-wealthy and "more corrupt" places I've traveled were far easier to deal with at the border. It's happened so many times I've lost count that the border agent didn't even look at me /or/ my passport before stamping a random page and yelling "Next". This doesn't happen in countries where the person at the border is well-paid and engaged in their job, it happens when they are bored, disinterested, and just want to go home. With one exception, all my worst border experiences were in wealthy countries. The one exception I won't discuss in detail publicly, but it was while leaving, not arriving, and at any rate wasn't due to their border agency but rather their secret police mistaking me for a journalist. Another observation I have is that only foreigners really get the worst treatment, so this may be why I haven't felt so badly about the US CBP, while I hear from my non-American friends and acquaintances that the US is the worst one to deal with. I'm sure any citizens of the countries I've mentioned will be quick to defend them in the comments in reply. After all, when you're a citizen, it's generally pretty painless to get back into the country of your citizenship. As a foreigner you face more scrutiny and have less legal protections.
- kennend3 4y ago
  I'm Canadian and lived in the US for 5 years and crossed back and forth at least once a month. I agree, Canada's border crossing is worse. I've crossed the US with underage children without their mother present several times. US customs hauled the kids out of the car and took them to a secure location and asked them where they are going, if their mother knows where they are, etc. This makes perfect sense and I'm glad the US customs officers took the time to do this. They are doing their job, preventing child abductions, etc and it was outstanding to see it being done. Entering Canada it seems they only care about one thing : What do you have they can tax you on. I wont be surprised to see the day when Canada measures how much gas is in your car, and if it exceeds an arbitrary amount tax you on this too.