24 ms·

How to lock down your phone if you're traveling to the U.S.

290 points by sipofwater 2y ago

sipofwater 2y ago
"DHS to screen social media of visa applicants for 'antisemitic activity'": https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/dhs-screen-social-media-visa-applicants-antisemitic-activity/story?id=120642944 https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/dhs-screen-social-media-visa... (abcnews.go.com/Politics/dhs-screen-social-media-visa-applicants-antisemitic-activity/story?id=120642944)
sipofwater 2y ago
Mirror: https://archive.is/rDbgD https://archive.is/rDbgD
- joshdavham 2y ago
  [dead]
sipofwater 2y ago
"Motorola moto g play 2024 Smartphone, Android 14 Operating System, Termux, And cryptsetup: Linux Unified Key Setup (LUKS) Encryption/Decryption And The ext4 Filesystem Without Using root Access, Without Using proot-distro, And Without Using QEMU": https://old.reddit.com/r/MotoG/comments/1jkl0f8/motorola_moto_g_play_2024_smartphone_android_14/ https://old.reddit.com/r/MotoG/comments/1jkl0f8/motorola_mot... (old.reddit.com/r/MotoG/comments/1jkl0f8/motorola_moto_g_play_2024_smartphone_android_14/)
- metalman 2y ago
  the same phone, but with nothing usefull or important on it, no apps with personal info banking done through email sign in.....everything done through email sign in switching my email to webmail sign in, so there will be nothing on the device at all just random pics, sd card,music, meaningless files for jobs plus there is no password or encryption, want it? have it.......sims got a pass code though
mediumsmart 2y ago
I lock it down in the living room and then head for the airport. I didn’t even have to read the article to know.
gruez 2y ago
"Locking down" is almost always a bad approach when it comes to border crossings. You have very little rights at the border, so keeping your phone locked and refusing to divulge the 20 characters password isn't really an option. Even without the threat of detaining you, they can refuse entry (if you're not a citizen/permanent resident), or seize your $1000 phone/laptop. Far better to wipe your phone and restore from backup after you've crossed the border. The article does make a good point that you should seed your wiped phone with signs of activity so it doesn't look freshly wiped.
- crossroadsguy 2y ago
  And maybe remove business critical or private data from "well known" online accounts or cloud services well known to US or from US or the one they might force you to give them access to - or the account where it might be trivial for them to show you have an account and then they might demand access. I know the article says they won't ask you for cloud accounts but I mean who the hell knows (esp. in today's USA), they might as well ask you to give access to iCloud Backup/restore because as you said they have close to or exactly zero rights there.
- joshlemer 2y ago
  What happens if it looks freshly wiped?
  - ty6853 2y ago
    It's my experience that once you get sent to secondary they have already decided to fuck you, they are just deciding which flimsy excuse they will use to do it. My totally non-legal conjecture (and livid experience) is if you are a citizen they will play mind games with you in secondary or a holding cell for hours to a day or so and then eventually reluctantly release you after muttering threats about revoking your passport and/or not letting you in.
    - GenshoTikamura 2y ago
      Detainment for having a phone without any content in it is just pure and utter fascism.
Havoc 2y ago
I'm just not going to go to the US frankly. Only reason I would is tourism, and I like my vacations harassment & risk of detainment free
- sipofwater 2y ago
  "US expected a big travel year, but overseas visitors — angered by Trump — are heading elsewhere": https://apnews.com/article/tourism-us-travel-trump-visitors-international-14c31b490fd382d09ad5cae625ddc937 https://apnews.com/article/tourism-us-travel-trump-visitors-... (apnews.com/article/tourism-us-travel-trump-visitors-international-14c31b490fd382d09ad5cae625ddc937)
- tengwar2 2y ago
  I stopped going when they introduced fingerprinting. This is not just a point of principle. While it is not known whether fingerprints are unique (as is often claimed), it is known that the information that is stored about fingerprints and which is used as the basis for matching records is not unique. The equivalent of hash collisions exist. Fingerprints are great as corroborative evidence, but if they are used as the means to find a suspect, you don't want your fingerprints in the system when Cletus Thugfester (the actual perpetrator) has matching prints that are not in the system. Far too likely that you'd get hauled across the Atlantic on this basis, then have to deal with the "justice" system over there.
  - kevin_thibedeau 2y ago
    Fingerprints are known to not be unique. Matches have been found between two people.
    - fhdkweig 2y ago
      Here is one example https://edition.cnn.com/2006/LAW/01/06/mayfield.report/ https://edition.cnn.com/2006/LAW/01/06/mayfield.report/ regarding the Madrid train bombing.
      - 2y ago
mvieira38 2y ago
Why even go to the US if you're fearing it that much
- kashunstva 2y ago
  OK, I'll bite. I'm a dual citizen of the U.S. and a neighbouring country whose sovereignty has been threatened recently and live in that country. Our daughter goes to school in the U.S., though, so travel to the U.S. for performances & to schlep her stuff to/from school at the beginning and end of the year is non-optional. People have all sorts of reasons to have to travel to U.S. So I very much appreciate the advice rendered in TFA because the Due Process Clauses of the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments are considered optional at the U.S. border.
- esbranson 2y ago
  [flagged]
- wat10000 2y ago
  Because I live here.
netsharc 2y ago
I remember looking at a friend's bookshelves and noticing a travel guide to the Soviet Union. It had a short chapter on what to expect when crossing the border and the fact you might be followed by the security services. And what do we have in 2025? I don't think it was a Lonely Planet https://www.bbc.com/ahistoryoftheworld/objects/AP5ln7N8TRGkfT4BT3TWIw https://www.bbc.com/ahistoryoftheworld/objects/AP5ln7N8TRGkf...
- jltsiren 2y ago
  Travel to the USSR was different, at least towards the end. Partly because they didn't have the surveillance technology we are used to. Partly because of widespread corruption. And partly because they didn't want to scare away visitors bringing in hard currency. As far as I understand, the key point was visa processing. If they considered you suspicious (maybe because you were a reporter or a religious worker), they might flag you for surveillance. Otherwise they didn't really care. The expectation was that you would exchange currency in the black market, because the official rates were terrible. And that you might make some money by selling western goods. If you were part of a tour group, the chances are your official Intourist guide was involved in this.
aaron695 2y ago
[dead]
pretzellogician 2y ago
I've often wondered if there's a supported way to have a honeypot passcode, i.e., a secondary passcode that leads to a relatively empty account. (Although as per the article, a fully wiped account looks suspicious -- it would need some innocuous apps or apps with no login info, etc.)
- mystified5016 2y ago
  Most android phones I use provide an option to wipe the device if the wrong passcode is entered too many times. There was a lot of talk about duress passcodes several years ago, but I don't think any phones ever got it. Sure would be nice to have
  - pxeboot 2y ago
    GrapheneOS has the duress password feature [1]. I have it enabled, but have never needed to use it. [1] https://grapheneos.org/features#duress https://grapheneos.org/features#duress
    - notahacker 2y ago
      A duress password that booted into an innocuous "safe mode" without access to your full browser and chat history would be a whole lot less likely to get you into more trouble than one which wipes the phone...
      - AstralStorm 2y ago
        Unfortunately your phone may get backdoored in that scenario anyway if it's known to have that feature. In graphene and most Android phones with unlocked flashing, easily achieved in a few minutes. (Special recovery. It's hard to catch if done right.) There's no way around the wipe at least and better hope the bugger installed is not persistent in some firmware.
        akimbostrawman 2y ago
Vuska 2y ago
The US is hardly the only country where this is the case and locking down your phone is almost entirely pointless (see xkcd #538). If you're concerned about having it searched, don't bring your primary phone. Go to a phone shop, buy an old phone, put your SIM card in it, and use that instead.
- ljf 2y ago
  Not really how I expect to have to act before I enter the 'Land of the free'.
- wat10000 2y ago
  Going 538 on a US citizen would be a massive escalation. I'm not saying it's impossible, but if it ever comes up, I'll roll the dice on not unlocking my phone. If you're worried about being beaten until you divulge your info, it's not like a burner phone is going to save you. They'll extract the login info for all your online accounts.
xnx 2y ago
Isn't it better to factory reset a phone before entering the US and then restore a backup?
- dijit 2y ago
  Anything stored in secure storage would also be wiped. Apple Pay cards and so forth, anything with 2FA codes, in Sweden we use "BankID" which is largely using a private key in secure storage and a pin to "sign" and "identify" people, you would be destroying those things in an unrecoverable way. Also, restoring a phone takes a seriously long time (8-10hrs?) and some things might not restore. Music you might have saved for example. Also, your restore process might be using the internet (which is also an issue), but if it's not: then you're bringing your backups with you most likely, so they're forfeit.
  - jeroenhd 2y ago
    > Also, restoring a phone takes a seriously long time (8-10hrs?) and some things might not restore 2FA is a pain to recover, but it shouldn't that _that_ long to restore a backup unless you don't have decent internet access. All of my important data and apps usually take maybe 2 hours to get back (including flashing the OS), 3 if you include 2FA recovery. Local backups is kind of an interesting risk/reward situation. My phone usually spends most of its time downloading apps from Google Play when recovering, the data recovery itself is very quick. Just backing up the APKs (which do not contain anything interesting) would probably cut down my backup recovery time to less than half an hour. Of course, my pictures and music are all stored in self-hosted cloud services, if you care to keep a local copy then things will take longer.
    - dijit 2y ago
      > but it shouldn't that _that_ long to restore a backup unless you don't have decent internet access. 1) We're talking about people who are most likely going to be using 4/5G and Hotel Wifi. The US anyway is far behind on bandwidth, I get symmetrical 1G for "free" in Sweden, last time I was in the US it was $60/mo for 60MBit. 2) Phones have as much as 1TiB of storage, even at the speed of storage that'll take a hot minute. Getting the 2FA codes set up while not having access to those 2FA codes is going to be interesting.
JKCalhoun 2y ago
> Don’t just take a wiped phone Oh, and if I don't have (bring) a phone at all?
- hiq 2y ago
  I guess that's what you're implying, but my bet is that you would look suspicious.
  - JKCalhoun 2y ago
    Maybe I can tattoo a US flag on my bicep. Or did I go too far?
    - esafak 2y ago
      Too Much and Never Enough.
    - throwway120385 2y ago
      It needs to have one blue stripe and 6 navy stripes otherwise it's considered unpatriotic. The old red and white version was too inclusive.
      - selimthegrim 2y ago
        Might clock him as an East India Company cosplayer.
- ben_w 2y ago
  Because phones are really useful. I've got an old blackberry lying around somewhere. Even though that helps with "can you communicate at all with people not in shouting distance", there's a lot of stuff that just presumes you have the ability to install an app or visit a website — and that blackberry is so old that its web browser can't handle current standard HTTPS encryption.
vessenes 2y ago
This article is a nice reminder that free speech is awesome. Also, it is terribly unhelpful and uninformative. Schneier’s blog post on this has tons of useful information in the comments: https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2025/04/cell-phone-opsec-for-border-crossings.html https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2025/04/cell-phone-op... The EFF wrote the canonical guide to this in 2017: https://www.eff.org/wp/digital-privacy-us-border-2017 https://www.eff.org/wp/digital-privacy-us-border-2017. I don’t know if it has been updated, but there is a lot that’s useful there. I think the main thing to decide ahead of time is: will you unlock a phone on request, or are you willing to lose the powered-down phone or be denied entry if you refuse? Most of your decisions flow from there. If unlocked and it leaves your sight, ALL your messages and photos and documents will be stored forever and are available warrantless in probably every country in the world.
- ty6853 2y ago
  As a US citizen it is still a bit useful. You cannot be denied entry (CBP has told me they would deny me entry, but in the end they just threaten to revoke your passport which is also a lie). If they have decided they want to search your phone, they will tell you that you just have to answer the questions and they will let you out in time to catch your next flight or whatever. The truth is they are vicious liars, as I have found out, once they are that suspicious you have already missed your connection. Once you are in secondary they are usually going to fuck you no matter what so might as well assert your rights.
  - nico 2y ago
    > might as well assert your rights I wonder what could happen to citizens who weren’t born in the US Given what we’ve seen recently. Could it be possible they would refer these people to the state department to revoke their citizenships?
    - deleted 2y ago
      [deleted]
    - wat10000 2y ago
elif 2y ago
this post is not really practical advice if you want to actually enter the US. here's some: mail it
- 9283409232 2y ago
  This is not practical advice either. US Customs will happily open your package and go through it for "inspection"
  - elif 2y ago
    US customs on mail parcels cannot 1) compel you to unlock your device 2) threaten you with deportation for non-compliance not to mention that there are rooms and people trained in every airport to scan your phone as a routine component of their daily function WHEREAS customs on mail are 90% concerned about duties and 10% concerned about smuggling. 0% on what kinda sms you send to your buddies
    - ChocolateGod 2y ago
      No but it gives them far more time to plug your phone into a device that dumps the device for decryption later, as well as attempting any kind of security backdoors/exploits, or even clone the SIM card.
      - AstralStorm 2y ago
        All of which is illegal for them to do for the moment, as opposed to TSA.
- anon291 2y ago
  Here's the most practical advice... The border agent isn't going to care unless you're actually planning some kind of terror attack.
joshdavham 2y ago
> Data copied from devices during advanced searches at entry points into the U.S. gets saved for 15 years in a database searchable by thousands of CBP employees without a warrant. This is incredibly sketchy. As a non-American (Canadian), I think I’d probably just prefer to be refused entry to the US at that point.
- ty6853 2y ago
  Your country exchanges this information with the US, and the other five eyes countries. So it is even worse than just US CBP employees eyeing it.
  - esafak 2y ago
    I'm not sure information sharing with the US is going to last at this rate.
    - ty6853 2y ago
      Hopefully not, Canada likes to peak into US records for stuff like a DUI from years ago from some guy who slept in his car at the bar so he would not drive home drunk, resulting in a policeman arresting him and then him being barred from the usual process of entering Canada. Canada ending their intelligence sharing with the US would be a big win for citizens in the US and Canada. They basically rely on sharing records with a government with a very hostile and notoriously flawed justice system (that in practice results in quite racist results) and then using it to judge US citizens, which favors other immigrants from countries with weak or less flawed criminal systems or ones that do not share information with Canada.
- kccqzy 2y ago
  They can both store contents of your device and refuse retry.
deleted 2y ago
[deleted]
NoTeslaThrow 2y ago
FWIW I wiped my phone entering the country and they ushered me right through anyway. Still, I was very concerned about finding texts from other people and getting them in trouble. I think the fear is the point more than the practicality as it stands.
BrandoElFollito 2y ago
Also known as "how to visit detention centers". The amount of bad advice here is staggering. You are not James Bond or some kind of ninja Seals secret agent. You are a nobody attempting to enter a country, and you will be pissing off the border police. Have some common sense.
- kevin_thibedeau 2y ago
  ... Then they came for me — and there was no one left to speak for me.
  - BrandoElFollito 2y ago
    Who came for you? You want to go to the US (or any other country) and therefore you align with their rules. Nobody forces you to go there, and especially play secret agent. If you go, you know that what you have can be searched so have nothing, or have something that is not controversial. The same applies to all the countries in the world.
    - hiddencost 2y ago
      [flagged]
    - antris 2y ago
      US has been "coming for us" for decades. What the US does does not fit neatly into its own borders. Extraordinary rendition https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extraordinary_rendition https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extraordinary_rendition Coups https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_involvement_in_regime_change https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_involvement_in_r... Wars https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_wars_involving_the_United_States https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_wars_involving_the_Uni...
      - BrandoElFollito 2y ago
        What does this has to do with the topic of trying to be clever with the border police with some tricks to conceal information? (as opposed to not having it in the first place) Otherwise yes, you are right - they are bullies.
BriggyDwiggs42 2y ago
Wouldn’t the best method just be to buy a second phone prior to your crossing, use it for innocuous things, and leave your real one at home?
- deleted 2y ago
  [deleted]
- ryandrake 2y ago
  Or, just don't bring a phone.
  - BriggyDwiggs42 2y ago
    Wouldn’t that look suspicious these days?
    - AstralStorm 2y ago
      Having a beard looks suspicious too. Literally there's nothing that can also not having anything as a suspicion. Too old phone? Suspicious. Too empty phone? Suspicious...
      - BriggyDwiggs42 2y ago
        Yeah it’s bullshit, but it’s still true that you can minimize the suspicion. Not having any kind of phone these days is likely very rare for people entering a US border crossing, a clean but used phone not so much. The goal is to blend in.
deleted 2y ago
[deleted]
basisword 2y ago
Almost everyone reading this doesn't need to worry about this. And if you are one of the few that do need to worry - just don't travel to the US for now.
- Larrikin 2y ago
  What do you believe the valid reasons are to worry and what are the ones you consider invalid?
GenshoTikamura 2y ago
[flagged]
miros_love 2y ago
Not sure about CBP specifically, but many countries already use specialized tools to break into phones and silently install backdoors — Cellebrite comes to mind. As my favorite blogger puts it: "If the data is important, it's not stored in only one place. If there's no backup, it wasn't important." With that in mind, wiping the device and filling the gallery with high-resolution images of genitals covered in excrement remains one of the more effective passive defense strategies. Jokes aside, it's depressing that crossing borders often means giving up fundamental digital privacy — and that we've largely normalized this. The idea that any government agent can dig through your phone without a warrant just because you're crossing a line on a map is dystopian at best.
- pandemic_region 2y ago
  > gallery with high-resolution images of genitals covered in excrement remains one of the more effective passive defense strategies. I would not call that passive defense, that's a full on attack on the stomach.
- gosub100 2y ago
  > and that we've largely normalized this. This (along with healthcare) are examples for the "both parties are the same" refrain. Neither side wants or advocates for the status quo (for US citizens to lose their rights at the border) but neither side is doing anything about it. They could easily eliminate the "constitution-free zone" exemption at borders and airports, but from what I can see, no lawmakers are talking about it.
  - throwway120385 2y ago
    If anyone starts, it's pretty easy to trot out some story about how CBP caught a drug smuggler or human trafficker or terrorist because of the searches and then the matter is quickly silenced.
- aaron695 2y ago
  [dead]
wg0 2y ago
Even Arab dictatorships don't search phones on entry. What's happening here?
- dboreham 2y ago
  To be fair, Canadian border agents have been looking at some travelers' phones for years. A typical scenario might be: "So why are you entering Canada?" ; "Visiting friends, on holiday" (traveler carrying a suitcase full of tattoo equipment); "Ok let's look at your phone" ; "Interesting, in this SMS thread from yesterday your friend says 'looking forward to you starting work in the tattoo studio'". Entry denied. https://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/travel-voyage/edd-ean-eng.html https://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/travel-voyage/edd-ean-eng.html
- dude187 2y ago
  Where did you get that idea? First one I picked to look up (Saudi Arabia) does, and I guarantee all the rest do as well https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/international-travel/International-Travel-Country-Information-Pages/SaudiArabia.html https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/international-tra...
NoImmatureAdHom 2y ago
The situation at the U.S. border re phone privacy is exceptionally good. In most countries this isn't a live issue because you have no such rights and everyone would laugh at you for asserting them. There are exceptions, perhaps Germany? In Britain they'll throw you in prison for refusing to give them your phone password, and if you do they'll throw you in prison for the wrongthink tweets they find on your phone. Should Americans be subject to search-for-no-reason at their own border? No, and I hope that as these border issues work their way through the legal system this will get sorted out. Please note that the CBP can say whatever they want about you having to give them a phone password, but you don't have to. They might keep your phone for a while and fuck around with it.
- Hercuros 2y ago
  Exceptions, such as the entirety of Europe? This level of privacy violation is truly incomprehensible to most citizens of European countries.
  - NoImmatureAdHom 2y ago
    I gave the example of the U.K., a dystopian privacy violator. The U.K. is in Europe. The entirety of Europe would not come close to making a majority of countries. Even if I grant you the "entirety of Europe", I bet I'm still right that most (i.e., more than half) of countries reserve the right to search your device at the border, and will compel you to give the password. For instances where the authorities wish to suspect you of a crime, looks like France was prepared to compel you to give a password in 2022: https://www.fairtrials.org/articles/news/french-court-rules-that-refusing-to-disclose-a-mobile-passcode-to-law-enforcement-is-a-criminal-offence/ https://www.fairtrials.org/articles/news/french-court-rules-... EU-wide, 2024: https://www.politico.eu/article/police-can-access-mobile-phone-data-for-minor-crimes-eus-top-court-rules/ https://www.politico.eu/article/police-can-access-mobile-pho... In the U.S., I believe you are covered by your 5th Amendment self-incrimination protections. I have some recollection that there are situations where authorities will compel you, like if you're not the one being accused of the crime.
    - 2y ago
vzaliva 2y ago
One thing I would definetely do is to secure my password manager. This would minimise potential exposure in the future in case your phone is backed up in some government database. 1Password have a feature for that: https://support.1password.com/travel-mode/ https://support.1password.com/travel-mode/
- pandemic_region 2y ago
  I find it absolutely mind blowing that people trust their secrets to be kept secure by a commercial company that needs to obey the laws in another country. In the light of recent geopolitical turmoil it makes even less sense.
jFriedensreich 2y ago
Ignoring the US political situation for a moment I want to point out how ridiculous modern phones and apps storage access given to their users is. You used to be able to mount a phone as a full hard drive and have access to all your files, do a real full backup without some encrypted databases that only facebook, google or apple hold the key for. The first tragedy is that we accepted that the US gives no rights to non citizens the second tragedy that no one talks about is that we accepted giving away our own data sovereignty and using devices that make us more vulnerable and effectively digital slaves.
- ta1243 2y ago
  > Dan would eventually find out about the free kernels, even entire free operating systems, that had existed around the turn of the century. But not only were they illegal, like debuggers—you could not install one if you had one, without knowing your computer's root password. And neither the FBI nor Microsoft Support would tell you that. But Stallman is a kook. https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/right-to-read.en.html https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/right-to-read.en.html
- Scene_Cast2 2y ago
  I root my phone out of principle (and it does come on handy sometimes). Rooting a phone seems increasingly rare, unfortunately.
  - Tostino 2y ago
    I did for years. Custom roms and all. Then over time there was just less and less of a need for me to do so, and more and more of a hassle if I did (banking apps breaking, etc).
- gausswho 2y ago
  It's for this reason I really just want a Linux that optimizes for a phone-factor touchscreen. No cell radio. The vast majority of my time I am never far from WiFi and I don't see why I need to give up the phone's form factor just to operate with digital hygiene independent of blackbox spyware.
kleiba 2y ago
> Before traveling, back up your devices so you don’t lose anything permanently. Then delete anything you’re worried about being misinterpreted or saved by the government. That can include conversations that compromise the privacy of the people on the other end. You might delete messages about politics, contact information for political dissidents, apps that save offline copies of sensitive documents like Google Docs, even your phone’s built-in Notes app. Mind you, this is for entering the country that considers itself the freest in the world...
- dizhn 2y ago
  [flagged]
  - redserk 2y ago
    [flagged]
    - jncfhnb 2y ago
      Really feel like point number two weakens your overall point here
      - xingped 2y ago
        That businesses are allowed to surprise you with unexpected fees is a negative thing. How can you interpret it otherwise?
        gruntbuggly 2y ago
        Don't you just go out to eat knowing the price is going to be 20% higher after tip? I can understand the desire for predictability, but menu prices are artificially low as they don't account for labor. If tipping were 'abolished' food service prices would have to rise 10-20% across the board to compensate.
        2y ago
cs702 2y ago
It's surreal for me to see such a headline and article on a major US newspaper.
- dingnuts 2y ago
  we still have freedom of speech for now at least, actual citizens do, anyway
  - throwway120385 2y ago
    The nutso thing is this idea that there is no freedom of speech for non-citizens. Now that we're eliminating birthright citizenship and allowing people to be deported to El Salvador with no due process it's pretty easy to just declare someone a non-citizen because they can't provide their great-great-great-great-grandmother's birth certificate from 1783 that proves that they have citizenship going back to the founding of the country, then just put you on a flight to wherever they want so that you can't hire a lawyer in the US to fight for you. The only reason that hairdresser has anyone speaking for him at the moment is because he has family in the US and they have been able to find a lawyer.
  - i80and 2y ago
    In principle? As long as they don't make a quote-unquote "mistake" and rush you out of the country to their little El Salvador gulag before anybody can stop them or you can prove your citizenship.
    - selimthegrim 2y ago
      RFK did this to Carlos Marcello. Was it right then?
- refurb 2y ago
  Really? Because this is old news. The US, along with Canada, Australia, Germany and a few others have been asking people at the border to unlock their phones.
vlod 2y ago
Or use the n-1 phone you already have in that junk drawer. I have old pixel phone that will work for simple stuff.
root_axis 2y ago
Too technical and nerve-racking for my loved ones traveling across the border. The solution most people I know (who are not born in the u.s.) have landed on is don't post or share any political articles, memes or reels, especially in DMs. If someone sends you political content, delete the message afterwards. The silver lining is that eschewing that content has some mental health benefits. I would imagine that stories, snapchat, and disappearing message features are probably safe, but I tell my loved-ones that it's not exactly clear what type of meta-data might remain on the device even using those features.
- standeven 2y ago
  “Just don’t share opinions” is not an option for a free society. Being gagged for fear of retribution from a foreign government is not beneficial to my mental health.
  - root_axis 2y ago
    Obviously not, but locking down your phone is just not practical for most people. Of course, avoiding travel to the u.s. is the safest approach, but it's not that simple for many of us who have spouses, siblings, parents etc who were not born in the u.s.
  - aeternum 2y ago
    Then don't travel, in many countries the penalty for disparaging the leader of that country is quite severe.
    - standeven 2y ago
      It’s sad that the USA is becoming one of these countries. But yes, that’s what I’m doing - travelling to free countries and avoiding the backwards ones.
      - aeternum 2y ago
        IMO the USA is not becoming one of those countries and people are just fearmongering. But legally they can do it so it's better to take precautions anyway.
incanus77 2y ago
One lesser-known tip for iPhones with FaceID or TouchID: press and hold the lock button and one of the volume buttons until prompted for power options/medical ID/emergency call. You'll then have to enter a passcode in order to use those auth methods again. Having to reveal a passcode can sometimes be considered a higher bar than biometric auth. You can do this even when in it's in your pocket without looking, quite quickly, and there is haptic feedback.
- connicpu 2y ago
  On android you can hold down the power button and then tap lockdown mode. Then it will require your pin/password to unlock again. Ideally have a password as your authentication method if you're concerned about privacy.
  - ytpete 2y ago
    On newer Android, holding down power apparently just launches Gemini's AI assistant. You can change it back in settings, or just hold down power + volume up to get to the old menu that has the Lockdown button. (Not to be confused with power + volume down which takes a screenshot).
- aeternum 2y ago
  Pretty much every country you travel to can detain you at the border simply for being suspicious. You generally have very few rights as a non-citizen and have to decide if you will really risk being detained vs. giving up your phone passcode. Better to use a burner/travel phone.
- iAMkenough 2y ago
  Border patrol agents have the authority to compell you to give them your password or passcode. If you refuse, they can detain you and seize your device (same for FaceID/TouchID). That's assuming border patrol operates within the law and constitution. https://informationsecurity.princeton.edu/sites/g/files/toruqf1121/files/searches_of_electronic_devices_at_the_border_-_faqs_-_march_2017_0.pdf https://informationsecurity.princeton.edu/sites/g/files/toru...
MikeTheGreat 2y ago
I'm seeing a lot of discussion here about how to prepare your phone for a border crossing, which is fascinating. I was wondering about a different strategy: what about leaving your phone at home and then buying a new one after you've crossed the border? It seems like it wouldn't be any less work than 'clean wipe and full restore post-crossing' and has the advantage that border agents can't search what you don't have. If your trip is short and the return policy sufficiently generous, you might even be able to clean wipe the phone and return it before you cross again. I'd be curious to hear what people think about something like this.
- barbazoo 2y ago
  > what about leaving your phone at home and then buying a new one after you've crossed the border? > I'd be curious to hear what people think about something like this. Because you asked. It's extremely wasteful and therefore a bad idea.
- necovek 2y ago
  Having a working phone is very useful for the rest of your trip in case of any issue during the trip.
arnonejoe 2y ago
I think this article is factually incorrect on one point. You cannot be detained for not providing the contents to your phone. That is absurd.
- tootie 2y ago
  Not legally but the law hasn't been much of an encumbrance recently.
- kashunstva 2y ago
  > You cannot be detained for not providing the contents to your phone. That is absurd. Yet there are comments form U.S. citizens elsewhere here that testify to having been detained at the U.S. border. They seem to have wide latitude in deciding who needs more scrutiny.
  - anon291 2y ago
    Americans really like to criticize America and have no idea how things are in other countries
    - lern_too_spel 2y ago
      These Americans understand that they can change the laws in their own country but not in others.
      - anon291 2y ago
        Right, that's of course totally fair and valid. However, what the USA is doing is hardly odd. Most countries do this. In general, constitutional rights obviously don't apply at the border. Whether you like it or not, there has never been a requirement for a warrant for a border inspection. Imagine how inefficient that would be.
admiralrohan 2y ago
I watched a vlog on travelling to North Korea and they didn't check his phone.
senderista 2y ago
I would love to visit Russia or Iran as a tourist, but I'll probably never be able to do that safely, and if I weren't a US citizen I would feel the same about the US. The US has many beautiful and fascinating things to see and do, but so do lots of other countries that won't throw you in a gulag.
- necovek 2y ago
  It seems increasingly likely that it's going to be pretty pleasant to visit Russia as an American with how things are developing (Americans are learning to tone down on their freedoms, and presidents of the two countries have a lot in common so Russia and USA might just be friends again very soon now).
- lazyeye 2y ago
  The amount of insanely overblown hyperbole in HN comments is extraordinary...
beloch 2y ago
>Don’t just take a wiped phone: If you are especially worried about your data, you may think about wiping your phone or computer entirely before a trip and restoring from a backup later. However, a nearly blank device can create its own problems. Wipe your phone. If more people do this before travelling to the U.S. it'll quickly become less "suspicious". This is a privacy issue. I don't have anything to hide, but I also don't like the idea of having the contents of my phone backed up and saved for 15 years. It's just like how there's nothing under my pants that is of interest to the authorities. I just prefer wearing pants. Another good tip for travelling to the U.S. is to fly, rather than drive, and to do a TSA pre-check at your point of departure. That way, if the Americans get too paranoid, you're not trapped on foreign soil and subject to their whims. You can just cancel your flight and go home. Better yet, don't travel to the U.S. right now unless you absolutely have to. It's not a good time to vacation there. Your country may have travel advisories in effect for the U.S. (mine does). Listen to them.
- soraminazuki 2y ago
  The problem is convincing the public to do this. That's going to be an uphill struggle considering the inconveniences of wiping and restoring a phone. The chilling effects these kinds of policies have on people is another major factor. The alarming thing is, we all do have something to hide now, unless you're full MAGA. When anything vaguely critical of the current administration can be used as grounds for detention without due process, every bit of information on our phones becomes "sensitive."
  - seattle_spring 2y ago
    Hopefully the absolutely bonkers level of irony that these policies have been put in place by people insisting to be "free speech absolutists" is not lost on them.
rob_c 2y ago
Again, it's called a burner. If the criminal underworld can master this concept... If you engage in stupidity online and it comes back to bite you because you wear it on your arm, my advice is don't go crying about it, unless you didn't believe enough in what you're saying to follow your words through with actions.
- AstralStorm 2y ago
  What will be considered stupidity next? Talking about voting for Democrats? Engaging in the politics in any form? Memeing? Voting for a left wing party in EU and talking about it? Talking about computer security as part of your job? There is no end to it. Ultimately McCarthy will get what he wants if he wants it. The only way to make it hard for him is to overload him and protest it. (Which is instantly suspicious.) I noticed you posted this from a non-throwaway account. Enjoy being flagged suspicious.
fragmede 2y ago
What the fuck happened to the first amendment?
- WorldPeas 2y ago
  you are free to say anything you want, so long as they are free to act on it.
highstep 2y ago
Vegas is fun, but not fun enough to justify having to worry about this stuff. My days of visiting the USA are over.
iteratethis 2y ago
How about a strategy of malicious compliance? Wallpaper is a US flag. Home screen shows Truth Social, X and 4-chan. Smartphone cover displays a roaring eagle.
aftbit 2y ago
I wish Android had a better backup story. If you're using iOS, it's as simple as the article describes. If you use even modern Android on modern Pixel, backup only includes a fraction of what you need to recover. Things like Signal keys, 2FA tokens, and more were not included in my last backup. GrapheneOS had an opportunity to do this 1000% better... and they instead ship a kinda broken fork of SeedVault, which they have been intending to replace for a long time now.
- pseudalopex 2y ago
  iOS apps block backup of keys and tokens also. Android is the only platform where Signal supports message backup and restore.
- LWIRVoltage 2y ago
  This annoys me to no end and is a serious problem in my own use cases... This is an issue I face- I have a collection of thermal cameras that use apps to control them- after every install onto a phone, they then reach out t oa server to authenticate. Here's the issue- though I have a few older phones- these apps are 32 bit ones, so no modern phone after Android 13 will run them. And they are all now not on the app store anymore,as they all came out about around 2016. i did use a APK extractor to pull the APKs to store them - but the native backup functionality wouldn't capture that authorization in the future, I might rob myself of my ability to use some extremely expensive, and long-term invested capable hardware, by backing up and restoring- I suspect a full image would solve this problem, but I don't think one can do that outside of things like TWRP- but that requires unlocking the bootloader, and if you do that it wipes your device- AND is more vulnerable to Custom's usage of Cellebrite and etc, to my undertanding. I don't have this issue with laptops ,as I can fully image them and wipe and restore ahavend have a perfect replica/ no issues. But my thermal cameras do not run off of PC and th eform factor wouldn't work if they did
LWIRVoltage 2y ago
Does obtaining Global Entry minimize the chance of them deciding to harass a citizen crossing the border, I wonder? It is at the cost of your biometric - but data on your devices might be worth more, and as I note elsewhere in this thread, you can image a computer and back it up fully, but not a phone without some data loss, unfortunately. [ TWRP possibly can do it right perhaps, but it requires unlocking the bootloader (which wipes the phone), and once bootloader is unlocked, it's more vulnerable to Cellebrite and company, to my understanding, ] seeing the latest (leaked?) Cellebrite info from 2024 Summer- BFU State[Before First Unlock state] after posting on, modernimoPuxelsiPhones on the latest OS, and graphene devices see moto be the hardest to get into. Anyway- , with computers - this was a solved problem from a technical standpoint- Yes I'm talking Truecrypt then, and today Veracrypt. The Hidden Container feature is impressive- but the Hidden OS feature allows for a truly hidden OS behind the scenes that can't be found at all. However, there's a unfortunate weakness that makes this hard to use today- it's limited to MBR , not UEFI [GPT]systems- so unless you like your computer not being able to have more than 2 Tb - and only 4 partitions (so good luck If you do a lot of stuff from dualbooting to other whatnot) We need a Veracrypt Hidden OS equivalent for UEFI systems that's truly undetectable.(That also will work for Linux and maybemeMac not just Windows as Veracrypt currently does - you can only make the Hidden Volumes on the non Windows versions of VC) There was one project to do it - and there were articles and a black hat presentation on 'Russian Doll Steganogrpahy" for a OS- but it didn't go anywhere from what I can tell, and everyone is now wide open .... Unless you have a MBR system. I also think I've heard UEFI is more easily secured than MBR in general and for the foreseeable future... https://portswigger.net/daily-swig/russian-doll-steganography-allows-users-to-mask-covert-drives https://portswigger.net/daily-swig/russian-doll-steganograph... https://i.blackhat.com/eu-18/Thu-Dec-6/eu-18-Schaub-Perfectly-Deniable-Steganographic-Disk-Encryption.pdf https://i.blackhat.com/eu-18/Thu-Dec-6/eu-18-Schaub-Perfectl...
anotherevan 2y ago
> Before travelling, back up your devices so you don’t lose anything permanently. Hah! Phones are a PITA to reliably backup and restore. I outlined the pain I had with it in this recentish comment: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42652663 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42652663
OutOfHere 2y ago
Instead of just shutting down your phone, reboot it and enter the wrong password twice. With any luck, this will erase the memory remnant imprint of the actual password. After doing this, you can then shut it down if you want.
reassess_blind 2y ago
In a similar vein for laptops, Veracrypt offers (offered?) a "Hidden OS" feature that allows an OS to be stored within an encrypted container inside of another encrypted container, with two separate passwords. This allows the outside volumes password to be divulged, which would show a dummy OS and allow for plausible deniability, while the real OS is only accessible with the second password. However, this feature doesn't seem to work for Windows 11, or on some modern laptop hardware anymore? Is there other software that offers similar functionality?
sipofwater 2y ago
"One Tech Tip: Protecting your device privacy when crossing borders": https://apnews.com/article/internet-privacy-smartphones-travel-e0a3146ae7966ea0e4157dbfae1f6a81 https://apnews.com/article/internet-privacy-smartphones-trav... (apnews.com/article/internet-privacy-smartphones-travel-e0a3146ae7966ea0e4157dbfae1f6a81)
NikkiA 2y ago
No; If you're forced to go to the US, take a burner phone.

290 points by sipofwater 2y ago

"DHS to screen social media of visa applicants for 'antisemitic activity'": https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/dhs-screen-social-media-visa-applicants-antisemitic-activity/story?id=120642944 https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/dhs-screen-social-media-visa... (abcnews.go.com/Politics/dhs-screen-social-media-visa-applicants-antisemitic-activity/story?id=120642944)

sipofwater 2y ago

Mirror: https://archive.is/rDbgD https://archive.is/rDbgD

joshdavham 2y ago
[dead]

sipofwater 2y ago

"Motorola moto g play 2024 Smartphone, Android 14 Operating System, Termux, And cryptsetup: Linux Unified Key Setup (LUKS) Encryption/Decryption And The ext4 Filesystem Without Using root Access, Without Using proot-distro, And Without Using QEMU": https://old.reddit.com/r/MotoG/comments/1jkl0f8/motorola_moto_g_play_2024_smartphone_android_14/ https://old.reddit.com/r/MotoG/comments/1jkl0f8/motorola_mot... (old.reddit.com/r/MotoG/comments/1jkl0f8/motorola_moto_g_play_2024_smartphone_android_14/)

metalman 2y ago
the same phone, but with nothing usefull or important on it, no apps with personal info banking done through email sign in.....everything done through email sign in switching my email to webmail sign in, so there will be nothing on the device at all just random pics, sd card,music, meaningless files for jobs plus there is no password or encryption, want it? have it.......sims got a pass code though

mediumsmart 2y ago

I lock it down in the living room and then head for the airport. I didn’t even have to read the article to know.

gruez 2y ago

"Locking down" is almost always a bad approach when it comes to border crossings. You have very little rights at the border, so keeping your phone locked and refusing to divulge the 20 characters password isn't really an option. Even without the threat of detaining you, they can refuse entry (if you're not a citizen/permanent resident), or seize your $1000 phone/laptop. Far better to wipe your phone and restore from backup after you've crossed the border. The article does make a good point that you should seed your wiped phone with signs of activity so it doesn't look freshly wiped.

crossroadsguy 2y ago
And maybe remove business critical or private data from "well known" online accounts or cloud services well known to US or from US or the one they might force you to give them access to - or the account where it might be trivial for them to show you have an account and then they might demand access. I know the article says they won't ask you for cloud accounts but I mean who the hell knows (esp. in today's USA), they might as well ask you to give access to iCloud Backup/restore because as you said they have close to or exactly zero rights there.
joshlemer 2y ago
What happens if it looks freshly wiped?
- ty6853 2y ago
  It's my experience that once you get sent to secondary they have already decided to fuck you, they are just deciding which flimsy excuse they will use to do it. My totally non-legal conjecture (and livid experience) is if you are a citizen they will play mind games with you in secondary or a holding cell for hours to a day or so and then eventually reluctantly release you after muttering threats about revoking your passport and/or not letting you in.
  - GenshoTikamura 2y ago
    Detainment for having a phone without any content in it is just pure and utter fascism.

Havoc 2y ago

I'm just not going to go to the US frankly. Only reason I would is tourism, and I like my vacations harassment & risk of detainment free

sipofwater 2y ago
"US expected a big travel year, but overseas visitors — angered by Trump — are heading elsewhere": https://apnews.com/article/tourism-us-travel-trump-visitors-international-14c31b490fd382d09ad5cae625ddc937 https://apnews.com/article/tourism-us-travel-trump-visitors-... (apnews.com/article/tourism-us-travel-trump-visitors-international-14c31b490fd382d09ad5cae625ddc937)
tengwar2 2y ago
I stopped going when they introduced fingerprinting. This is not just a point of principle. While it is not known whether fingerprints are unique (as is often claimed), it is known that the information that is stored about fingerprints and which is used as the basis for matching records is not unique. The equivalent of hash collisions exist. Fingerprints are great as corroborative evidence, but if they are used as the means to find a suspect, you don't want your fingerprints in the system when Cletus Thugfester (the actual perpetrator) has matching prints that are not in the system. Far too likely that you'd get hauled across the Atlantic on this basis, then have to deal with the "justice" system over there.
- kevin_thibedeau 2y ago
  Fingerprints are known to not be unique. Matches have been found between two people.
  - fhdkweig 2y ago
    Here is one example https://edition.cnn.com/2006/LAW/01/06/mayfield.report/ https://edition.cnn.com/2006/LAW/01/06/mayfield.report/ regarding the Madrid train bombing.
    - 2y ago

mvieira38 2y ago

Why even go to the US if you're fearing it that much

kashunstva 2y ago
OK, I'll bite. I'm a dual citizen of the U.S. and a neighbouring country whose sovereignty has been threatened recently and live in that country. Our daughter goes to school in the U.S., though, so travel to the U.S. for performances & to schlep her stuff to/from school at the beginning and end of the year is non-optional. People have all sorts of reasons to have to travel to U.S. So I very much appreciate the advice rendered in TFA because the Due Process Clauses of the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments are considered optional at the U.S. border.
esbranson 2y ago
[flagged]
wat10000 2y ago
Because I live here.

netsharc 2y ago

I remember looking at a friend's bookshelves and noticing a travel guide to the Soviet Union. It had a short chapter on what to expect when crossing the border and the fact you might be followed by the security services. And what do we have in 2025? I don't think it was a Lonely Planet https://www.bbc.com/ahistoryoftheworld/objects/AP5ln7N8TRGkfT4BT3TWIw https://www.bbc.com/ahistoryoftheworld/objects/AP5ln7N8TRGkf...

jltsiren 2y ago
Travel to the USSR was different, at least towards the end. Partly because they didn't have the surveillance technology we are used to. Partly because of widespread corruption. And partly because they didn't want to scare away visitors bringing in hard currency. As far as I understand, the key point was visa processing. If they considered you suspicious (maybe because you were a reporter or a religious worker), they might flag you for surveillance. Otherwise they didn't really care. The expectation was that you would exchange currency in the black market, because the official rates were terrible. And that you might make some money by selling western goods. If you were part of a tour group, the chances are your official Intourist guide was involved in this.

aaron695 2y ago

[dead]

pretzellogician 2y ago

I've often wondered if there's a supported way to have a honeypot passcode, i.e., a secondary passcode that leads to a relatively empty account. (Although as per the article, a fully wiped account looks suspicious -- it would need some innocuous apps or apps with no login info, etc.)

mystified5016 2y ago
Most android phones I use provide an option to wipe the device if the wrong passcode is entered too many times. There was a lot of talk about duress passcodes several years ago, but I don't think any phones ever got it. Sure would be nice to have
- pxeboot 2y ago
  GrapheneOS has the duress password feature [1]. I have it enabled, but have never needed to use it. [1] https://grapheneos.org/features#duress https://grapheneos.org/features#duress
  - notahacker 2y ago
    A duress password that booted into an innocuous "safe mode" without access to your full browser and chat history would be a whole lot less likely to get you into more trouble than one which wipes the phone...
    - AstralStorm 2y ago
      Unfortunately your phone may get backdoored in that scenario anyway if it's known to have that feature. In graphene and most Android phones with unlocked flashing, easily achieved in a few minutes. (Special recovery. It's hard to catch if done right.) There's no way around the wipe at least and better hope the bugger installed is not persistent in some firmware.
      - akimbostrawman 2y ago

Vuska 2y ago

The US is hardly the only country where this is the case and locking down your phone is almost entirely pointless (see xkcd #538). If you're concerned about having it searched, don't bring your primary phone. Go to a phone shop, buy an old phone, put your SIM card in it, and use that instead.

ljf 2y ago
Not really how I expect to have to act before I enter the 'Land of the free'.
wat10000 2y ago
Going 538 on a US citizen would be a massive escalation. I'm not saying it's impossible, but if it ever comes up, I'll roll the dice on not unlocking my phone. If you're worried about being beaten until you divulge your info, it's not like a burner phone is going to save you. They'll extract the login info for all your online accounts.

xnx 2y ago

Isn't it better to factory reset a phone before entering the US and then restore a backup?

dijit 2y ago
Anything stored in secure storage would also be wiped. Apple Pay cards and so forth, anything with 2FA codes, in Sweden we use "BankID" which is largely using a private key in secure storage and a pin to "sign" and "identify" people, you would be destroying those things in an unrecoverable way. Also, restoring a phone takes a seriously long time (8-10hrs?) and some things might not restore. Music you might have saved for example. Also, your restore process might be using the internet (which is also an issue), but if it's not: then you're bringing your backups with you most likely, so they're forfeit.
- jeroenhd 2y ago
  > Also, restoring a phone takes a seriously long time (8-10hrs?) and some things might not restore 2FA is a pain to recover, but it shouldn't that _that_ long to restore a backup unless you don't have decent internet access. All of my important data and apps usually take maybe 2 hours to get back (including flashing the OS), 3 if you include 2FA recovery. Local backups is kind of an interesting risk/reward situation. My phone usually spends most of its time downloading apps from Google Play when recovering, the data recovery itself is very quick. Just backing up the APKs (which do not contain anything interesting) would probably cut down my backup recovery time to less than half an hour. Of course, my pictures and music are all stored in self-hosted cloud services, if you care to keep a local copy then things will take longer.
  - dijit 2y ago
    > but it shouldn't that _that_ long to restore a backup unless you don't have decent internet access. 1) We're talking about people who are most likely going to be using 4/5G and Hotel Wifi. The US anyway is far behind on bandwidth, I get symmetrical 1G for "free" in Sweden, last time I was in the US it was $60/mo for 60MBit. 2) Phones have as much as 1TiB of storage, even at the speed of storage that'll take a hot minute. Getting the 2FA codes set up while not having access to those 2FA codes is going to be interesting.

JKCalhoun 2y ago

> Don’t just take a wiped phone Oh, and if I don't have (bring) a phone at all?

hiq 2y ago
I guess that's what you're implying, but my bet is that you would look suspicious.
- JKCalhoun 2y ago
  Maybe I can tattoo a US flag on my bicep. Or did I go too far?
  - esafak 2y ago
    Too Much and Never Enough.
  - throwway120385 2y ago
    It needs to have one blue stripe and 6 navy stripes otherwise it's considered unpatriotic. The old red and white version was too inclusive.
    - selimthegrim 2y ago
      Might clock him as an East India Company cosplayer.
ben_w 2y ago
Because phones are really useful. I've got an old blackberry lying around somewhere. Even though that helps with "can you communicate at all with people not in shouting distance", there's a lot of stuff that just presumes you have the ability to install an app or visit a website — and that blackberry is so old that its web browser can't handle current standard HTTPS encryption.

vessenes 2y ago

This article is a nice reminder that free speech is awesome. Also, it is terribly unhelpful and uninformative. Schneier’s blog post on this has tons of useful information in the comments: https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2025/04/cell-phone-opsec-for-border-crossings.html https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2025/04/cell-phone-op... The EFF wrote the canonical guide to this in 2017: https://www.eff.org/wp/digital-privacy-us-border-2017 https://www.eff.org/wp/digital-privacy-us-border-2017. I don’t know if it has been updated, but there is a lot that’s useful there. I think the main thing to decide ahead of time is: will you unlock a phone on request, or are you willing to lose the powered-down phone or be denied entry if you refuse? Most of your decisions flow from there. If unlocked and it leaves your sight, ALL your messages and photos and documents will be stored forever and are available warrantless in probably every country in the world.

ty6853 2y ago
As a US citizen it is still a bit useful. You cannot be denied entry (CBP has told me they would deny me entry, but in the end they just threaten to revoke your passport which is also a lie). If they have decided they want to search your phone, they will tell you that you just have to answer the questions and they will let you out in time to catch your next flight or whatever. The truth is they are vicious liars, as I have found out, once they are that suspicious you have already missed your connection. Once you are in secondary they are usually going to fuck you no matter what so might as well assert your rights.
- nico 2y ago
  > might as well assert your rights I wonder what could happen to citizens who weren’t born in the US Given what we’ve seen recently. Could it be possible they would refer these people to the state department to revoke their citizenships?
  - deleted 2y ago
    [deleted]
  - wat10000 2y ago

elif 2y ago

this post is not really practical advice if you want to actually enter the US. here's some: mail it

9283409232 2y ago
This is not practical advice either. US Customs will happily open your package and go through it for "inspection"
- elif 2y ago
  US customs on mail parcels cannot 1) compel you to unlock your device 2) threaten you with deportation for non-compliance not to mention that there are rooms and people trained in every airport to scan your phone as a routine component of their daily function WHEREAS customs on mail are 90% concerned about duties and 10% concerned about smuggling. 0% on what kinda sms you send to your buddies
  - ChocolateGod 2y ago
    No but it gives them far more time to plug your phone into a device that dumps the device for decryption later, as well as attempting any kind of security backdoors/exploits, or even clone the SIM card.
    - AstralStorm 2y ago
      All of which is illegal for them to do for the moment, as opposed to TSA.
anon291 2y ago
Here's the most practical advice... The border agent isn't going to care unless you're actually planning some kind of terror attack.

joshdavham 2y ago

> Data copied from devices during advanced searches at entry points into the U.S. gets saved for 15 years in a database searchable by thousands of CBP employees without a warrant. This is incredibly sketchy. As a non-American (Canadian), I think I’d probably just prefer to be refused entry to the US at that point.

ty6853 2y ago
Your country exchanges this information with the US, and the other five eyes countries. So it is even worse than just US CBP employees eyeing it.
- esafak 2y ago
  I'm not sure information sharing with the US is going to last at this rate.
  - ty6853 2y ago
    Hopefully not, Canada likes to peak into US records for stuff like a DUI from years ago from some guy who slept in his car at the bar so he would not drive home drunk, resulting in a policeman arresting him and then him being barred from the usual process of entering Canada. Canada ending their intelligence sharing with the US would be a big win for citizens in the US and Canada. They basically rely on sharing records with a government with a very hostile and notoriously flawed justice system (that in practice results in quite racist results) and then using it to judge US citizens, which favors other immigrants from countries with weak or less flawed criminal systems or ones that do not share information with Canada.
kccqzy 2y ago
They can both store contents of your device and refuse retry.

deleted 2y ago

[deleted]

NoTeslaThrow 2y ago

FWIW I wiped my phone entering the country and they ushered me right through anyway. Still, I was very concerned about finding texts from other people and getting them in trouble. I think the fear is the point more than the practicality as it stands.

BrandoElFollito 2y ago

Also known as "how to visit detention centers". The amount of bad advice here is staggering. You are not James Bond or some kind of ninja Seals secret agent. You are a nobody attempting to enter a country, and you will be pissing off the border police. Have some common sense.

kevin_thibedeau 2y ago
... Then they came for me — and there was no one left to speak for me.
- BrandoElFollito 2y ago
  Who came for you? You want to go to the US (or any other country) and therefore you align with their rules. Nobody forces you to go there, and especially play secret agent. If you go, you know that what you have can be searched so have nothing, or have something that is not controversial. The same applies to all the countries in the world.
  - hiddencost 2y ago
    [flagged]
  - antris 2y ago
    US has been "coming for us" for decades. What the US does does not fit neatly into its own borders. Extraordinary rendition https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extraordinary_rendition https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extraordinary_rendition Coups https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_involvement_in_regime_change https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_involvement_in_r... Wars https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_wars_involving_the_United_States https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_wars_involving_the_Uni...
    - BrandoElFollito 2y ago
      What does this has to do with the topic of trying to be clever with the border police with some tricks to conceal information? (as opposed to not having it in the first place) Otherwise yes, you are right - they are bullies.

BriggyDwiggs42 2y ago

Wouldn’t the best method just be to buy a second phone prior to your crossing, use it for innocuous things, and leave your real one at home?

deleted 2y ago
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ryandrake 2y ago
Or, just don't bring a phone.
- BriggyDwiggs42 2y ago
  Wouldn’t that look suspicious these days?
  - AstralStorm 2y ago
    Having a beard looks suspicious too. Literally there's nothing that can also not having anything as a suspicion. Too old phone? Suspicious. Too empty phone? Suspicious...
    - BriggyDwiggs42 2y ago
      Yeah it’s bullshit, but it’s still true that you can minimize the suspicion. Not having any kind of phone these days is likely very rare for people entering a US border crossing, a clean but used phone not so much. The goal is to blend in.

deleted 2y ago

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basisword 2y ago

Almost everyone reading this doesn't need to worry about this. And if you are one of the few that do need to worry - just don't travel to the US for now.

Larrikin 2y ago
What do you believe the valid reasons are to worry and what are the ones you consider invalid?

GenshoTikamura 2y ago

[flagged]

miros_love 2y ago

Not sure about CBP specifically, but many countries already use specialized tools to break into phones and silently install backdoors — Cellebrite comes to mind. As my favorite blogger puts it: "If the data is important, it's not stored in only one place. If there's no backup, it wasn't important." With that in mind, wiping the device and filling the gallery with high-resolution images of genitals covered in excrement remains one of the more effective passive defense strategies. Jokes aside, it's depressing that crossing borders often means giving up fundamental digital privacy — and that we've largely normalized this. The idea that any government agent can dig through your phone without a warrant just because you're crossing a line on a map is dystopian at best.

pandemic_region 2y ago
> gallery with high-resolution images of genitals covered in excrement remains one of the more effective passive defense strategies. I would not call that passive defense, that's a full on attack on the stomach.
gosub100 2y ago
> and that we've largely normalized this. This (along with healthcare) are examples for the "both parties are the same" refrain. Neither side wants or advocates for the status quo (for US citizens to lose their rights at the border) but neither side is doing anything about it. They could easily eliminate the "constitution-free zone" exemption at borders and airports, but from what I can see, no lawmakers are talking about it.
- throwway120385 2y ago
  If anyone starts, it's pretty easy to trot out some story about how CBP caught a drug smuggler or human trafficker or terrorist because of the searches and then the matter is quickly silenced.
aaron695 2y ago
[dead]

wg0 2y ago

Even Arab dictatorships don't search phones on entry. What's happening here?

dboreham 2y ago
To be fair, Canadian border agents have been looking at some travelers' phones for years. A typical scenario might be: "So why are you entering Canada?" ; "Visiting friends, on holiday" (traveler carrying a suitcase full of tattoo equipment); "Ok let's look at your phone" ; "Interesting, in this SMS thread from yesterday your friend says 'looking forward to you starting work in the tattoo studio'". Entry denied. https://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/travel-voyage/edd-ean-eng.html https://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/travel-voyage/edd-ean-eng.html
dude187 2y ago
Where did you get that idea? First one I picked to look up (Saudi Arabia) does, and I guarantee all the rest do as well https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/international-travel/International-Travel-Country-Information-Pages/SaudiArabia.html https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/international-tra...

NoImmatureAdHom 2y ago

The situation at the U.S. border re phone privacy is exceptionally good. In most countries this isn't a live issue because you have no such rights and everyone would laugh at you for asserting them. There are exceptions, perhaps Germany? In Britain they'll throw you in prison for refusing to give them your phone password, and if you do they'll throw you in prison for the wrongthink tweets they find on your phone. Should Americans be subject to search-for-no-reason at their own border? No, and I hope that as these border issues work their way through the legal system this will get sorted out. Please note that the CBP can say whatever they want about you having to give them a phone password, but you don't have to. They might keep your phone for a while and fuck around with it.

Hercuros 2y ago
Exceptions, such as the entirety of Europe? This level of privacy violation is truly incomprehensible to most citizens of European countries.
- NoImmatureAdHom 2y ago
  I gave the example of the U.K., a dystopian privacy violator. The U.K. is in Europe. The entirety of Europe would not come close to making a majority of countries. Even if I grant you the "entirety of Europe", I bet I'm still right that most (i.e., more than half) of countries reserve the right to search your device at the border, and will compel you to give the password. For instances where the authorities wish to suspect you of a crime, looks like France was prepared to compel you to give a password in 2022: https://www.fairtrials.org/articles/news/french-court-rules-that-refusing-to-disclose-a-mobile-passcode-to-law-enforcement-is-a-criminal-offence/ https://www.fairtrials.org/articles/news/french-court-rules-... EU-wide, 2024: https://www.politico.eu/article/police-can-access-mobile-phone-data-for-minor-crimes-eus-top-court-rules/ https://www.politico.eu/article/police-can-access-mobile-pho... In the U.S., I believe you are covered by your 5th Amendment self-incrimination protections. I have some recollection that there are situations where authorities will compel you, like if you're not the one being accused of the crime.
  - 2y ago

vzaliva 2y ago

One thing I would definetely do is to secure my password manager. This would minimise potential exposure in the future in case your phone is backed up in some government database. 1Password have a feature for that: https://support.1password.com/travel-mode/ https://support.1password.com/travel-mode/

pandemic_region 2y ago
I find it absolutely mind blowing that people trust their secrets to be kept secure by a commercial company that needs to obey the laws in another country. In the light of recent geopolitical turmoil it makes even less sense.

jFriedensreich 2y ago

Ignoring the US political situation for a moment I want to point out how ridiculous modern phones and apps storage access given to their users is. You used to be able to mount a phone as a full hard drive and have access to all your files, do a real full backup without some encrypted databases that only facebook, google or apple hold the key for. The first tragedy is that we accepted that the US gives no rights to non citizens the second tragedy that no one talks about is that we accepted giving away our own data sovereignty and using devices that make us more vulnerable and effectively digital slaves.

ta1243 2y ago
> Dan would eventually find out about the free kernels, even entire free operating systems, that had existed around the turn of the century. But not only were they illegal, like debuggers—you could not install one if you had one, without knowing your computer's root password. And neither the FBI nor Microsoft Support would tell you that. But Stallman is a kook. https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/right-to-read.en.html https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/right-to-read.en.html
Scene_Cast2 2y ago
I root my phone out of principle (and it does come on handy sometimes). Rooting a phone seems increasingly rare, unfortunately.
- Tostino 2y ago
  I did for years. Custom roms and all. Then over time there was just less and less of a need for me to do so, and more and more of a hassle if I did (banking apps breaking, etc).
gausswho 2y ago
It's for this reason I really just want a Linux that optimizes for a phone-factor touchscreen. No cell radio. The vast majority of my time I am never far from WiFi and I don't see why I need to give up the phone's form factor just to operate with digital hygiene independent of blackbox spyware.

kleiba 2y ago

> Before traveling, back up your devices so you don’t lose anything permanently. Then delete anything you’re worried about being misinterpreted or saved by the government. That can include conversations that compromise the privacy of the people on the other end. You might delete messages about politics, contact information for political dissidents, apps that save offline copies of sensitive documents like Google Docs, even your phone’s built-in Notes app. Mind you, this is for entering the country that considers itself the freest in the world...

dizhn 2y ago
[flagged]
- redserk 2y ago
  [flagged]
  - jncfhnb 2y ago
    Really feel like point number two weakens your overall point here
    - xingped 2y ago
      That businesses are allowed to surprise you with unexpected fees is a negative thing. How can you interpret it otherwise?
      - gruntbuggly 2y ago
        Don't you just go out to eat knowing the price is going to be 20% higher after tip? I can understand the desire for predictability, but menu prices are artificially low as they don't account for labor. If tipping were 'abolished' food service prices would have to rise 10-20% across the board to compensate.
        2y ago

cs702 2y ago

It's surreal for me to see such a headline and article on a major US newspaper.

dingnuts 2y ago
we still have freedom of speech for now at least, actual citizens do, anyway
- throwway120385 2y ago
  The nutso thing is this idea that there is no freedom of speech for non-citizens. Now that we're eliminating birthright citizenship and allowing people to be deported to El Salvador with no due process it's pretty easy to just declare someone a non-citizen because they can't provide their great-great-great-great-grandmother's birth certificate from 1783 that proves that they have citizenship going back to the founding of the country, then just put you on a flight to wherever they want so that you can't hire a lawyer in the US to fight for you. The only reason that hairdresser has anyone speaking for him at the moment is because he has family in the US and they have been able to find a lawyer.
- i80and 2y ago
  In principle? As long as they don't make a quote-unquote "mistake" and rush you out of the country to their little El Salvador gulag before anybody can stop them or you can prove your citizenship.
  - selimthegrim 2y ago
    RFK did this to Carlos Marcello. Was it right then?
refurb 2y ago
Really? Because this is old news. The US, along with Canada, Australia, Germany and a few others have been asking people at the border to unlock their phones.

vlod 2y ago

Or use the n-1 phone you already have in that junk drawer. I have old pixel phone that will work for simple stuff.

root_axis 2y ago

Too technical and nerve-racking for my loved ones traveling across the border. The solution most people I know (who are not born in the u.s.) have landed on is don't post or share any political articles, memes or reels, especially in DMs. If someone sends you political content, delete the message afterwards. The silver lining is that eschewing that content has some mental health benefits. I would imagine that stories, snapchat, and disappearing message features are probably safe, but I tell my loved-ones that it's not exactly clear what type of meta-data might remain on the device even using those features.

standeven 2y ago
“Just don’t share opinions” is not an option for a free society. Being gagged for fear of retribution from a foreign government is not beneficial to my mental health.
- root_axis 2y ago
  Obviously not, but locking down your phone is just not practical for most people. Of course, avoiding travel to the u.s. is the safest approach, but it's not that simple for many of us who have spouses, siblings, parents etc who were not born in the u.s.
- aeternum 2y ago
  Then don't travel, in many countries the penalty for disparaging the leader of that country is quite severe.
  - standeven 2y ago
    It’s sad that the USA is becoming one of these countries. But yes, that’s what I’m doing - travelling to free countries and avoiding the backwards ones.
    - aeternum 2y ago
      IMO the USA is not becoming one of those countries and people are just fearmongering. But legally they can do it so it's better to take precautions anyway.

incanus77 2y ago

One lesser-known tip for iPhones with FaceID or TouchID: press and hold the lock button and one of the volume buttons until prompted for power options/medical ID/emergency call. You'll then have to enter a passcode in order to use those auth methods again. Having to reveal a passcode can sometimes be considered a higher bar than biometric auth. You can do this even when in it's in your pocket without looking, quite quickly, and there is haptic feedback.

connicpu 2y ago
On android you can hold down the power button and then tap lockdown mode. Then it will require your pin/password to unlock again. Ideally have a password as your authentication method if you're concerned about privacy.
- ytpete 2y ago
  On newer Android, holding down power apparently just launches Gemini's AI assistant. You can change it back in settings, or just hold down power + volume up to get to the old menu that has the Lockdown button. (Not to be confused with power + volume down which takes a screenshot).
aeternum 2y ago
Pretty much every country you travel to can detain you at the border simply for being suspicious. You generally have very few rights as a non-citizen and have to decide if you will really risk being detained vs. giving up your phone passcode. Better to use a burner/travel phone.
iAMkenough 2y ago
Border patrol agents have the authority to compell you to give them your password or passcode. If you refuse, they can detain you and seize your device (same for FaceID/TouchID). That's assuming border patrol operates within the law and constitution. https://informationsecurity.princeton.edu/sites/g/files/toruqf1121/files/searches_of_electronic_devices_at_the_border_-_faqs_-_march_2017_0.pdf https://informationsecurity.princeton.edu/sites/g/files/toru...

MikeTheGreat 2y ago

I'm seeing a lot of discussion here about how to prepare your phone for a border crossing, which is fascinating. I was wondering about a different strategy: what about leaving your phone at home and then buying a new one after you've crossed the border? It seems like it wouldn't be any less work than 'clean wipe and full restore post-crossing' and has the advantage that border agents can't search what you don't have. If your trip is short and the return policy sufficiently generous, you might even be able to clean wipe the phone and return it before you cross again. I'd be curious to hear what people think about something like this.

barbazoo 2y ago
> what about leaving your phone at home and then buying a new one after you've crossed the border? > I'd be curious to hear what people think about something like this. Because you asked. It's extremely wasteful and therefore a bad idea.
necovek 2y ago
Having a working phone is very useful for the rest of your trip in case of any issue during the trip.

arnonejoe 2y ago

I think this article is factually incorrect on one point. You cannot be detained for not providing the contents to your phone. That is absurd.

tootie 2y ago
Not legally but the law hasn't been much of an encumbrance recently.
kashunstva 2y ago
> You cannot be detained for not providing the contents to your phone. That is absurd. Yet there are comments form U.S. citizens elsewhere here that testify to having been detained at the U.S. border. They seem to have wide latitude in deciding who needs more scrutiny.
- anon291 2y ago
  Americans really like to criticize America and have no idea how things are in other countries
  - lern_too_spel 2y ago
    These Americans understand that they can change the laws in their own country but not in others.
    - anon291 2y ago
      Right, that's of course totally fair and valid. However, what the USA is doing is hardly odd. Most countries do this. In general, constitutional rights obviously don't apply at the border. Whether you like it or not, there has never been a requirement for a warrant for a border inspection. Imagine how inefficient that would be.

admiralrohan 2y ago

I watched a vlog on travelling to North Korea and they didn't check his phone.

senderista 2y ago

I would love to visit Russia or Iran as a tourist, but I'll probably never be able to do that safely, and if I weren't a US citizen I would feel the same about the US. The US has many beautiful and fascinating things to see and do, but so do lots of other countries that won't throw you in a gulag.

necovek 2y ago
It seems increasingly likely that it's going to be pretty pleasant to visit Russia as an American with how things are developing (Americans are learning to tone down on their freedoms, and presidents of the two countries have a lot in common so Russia and USA might just be friends again very soon now).
lazyeye 2y ago
The amount of insanely overblown hyperbole in HN comments is extraordinary...

beloch 2y ago

>Don’t just take a wiped phone: If you are especially worried about your data, you may think about wiping your phone or computer entirely before a trip and restoring from a backup later. However, a nearly blank device can create its own problems. Wipe your phone. If more people do this before travelling to the U.S. it'll quickly become less "suspicious". This is a privacy issue. I don't have anything to hide, but I also don't like the idea of having the contents of my phone backed up and saved for 15 years. It's just like how there's nothing under my pants that is of interest to the authorities. I just prefer wearing pants. Another good tip for travelling to the U.S. is to fly, rather than drive, and to do a TSA pre-check at your point of departure. That way, if the Americans get too paranoid, you're not trapped on foreign soil and subject to their whims. You can just cancel your flight and go home. Better yet, don't travel to the U.S. right now unless you absolutely have to. It's not a good time to vacation there. Your country may have travel advisories in effect for the U.S. (mine does). Listen to them.

soraminazuki 2y ago
The problem is convincing the public to do this. That's going to be an uphill struggle considering the inconveniences of wiping and restoring a phone. The chilling effects these kinds of policies have on people is another major factor. The alarming thing is, we all do have something to hide now, unless you're full MAGA. When anything vaguely critical of the current administration can be used as grounds for detention without due process, every bit of information on our phones becomes "sensitive."
- seattle_spring 2y ago
  Hopefully the absolutely bonkers level of irony that these policies have been put in place by people insisting to be "free speech absolutists" is not lost on them.

rob_c 2y ago

Again, it's called a burner. If the criminal underworld can master this concept... If you engage in stupidity online and it comes back to bite you because you wear it on your arm, my advice is don't go crying about it, unless you didn't believe enough in what you're saying to follow your words through with actions.

AstralStorm 2y ago
What will be considered stupidity next? Talking about voting for Democrats? Engaging in the politics in any form? Memeing? Voting for a left wing party in EU and talking about it? Talking about computer security as part of your job? There is no end to it. Ultimately McCarthy will get what he wants if he wants it. The only way to make it hard for him is to overload him and protest it. (Which is instantly suspicious.) I noticed you posted this from a non-throwaway account. Enjoy being flagged suspicious.

fragmede 2y ago

What the fuck happened to the first amendment?

WorldPeas 2y ago
you are free to say anything you want, so long as they are free to act on it.

highstep 2y ago

Vegas is fun, but not fun enough to justify having to worry about this stuff. My days of visiting the USA are over.

iteratethis 2y ago

How about a strategy of malicious compliance? Wallpaper is a US flag. Home screen shows Truth Social, X and 4-chan. Smartphone cover displays a roaring eagle.

aftbit 2y ago

I wish Android had a better backup story. If you're using iOS, it's as simple as the article describes. If you use even modern Android on modern Pixel, backup only includes a fraction of what you need to recover. Things like Signal keys, 2FA tokens, and more were not included in my last backup. GrapheneOS had an opportunity to do this 1000% better... and they instead ship a kinda broken fork of SeedVault, which they have been intending to replace for a long time now.

pseudalopex 2y ago
iOS apps block backup of keys and tokens also. Android is the only platform where Signal supports message backup and restore.
LWIRVoltage 2y ago
This annoys me to no end and is a serious problem in my own use cases... This is an issue I face- I have a collection of thermal cameras that use apps to control them- after every install onto a phone, they then reach out t oa server to authenticate. Here's the issue- though I have a few older phones- these apps are 32 bit ones, so no modern phone after Android 13 will run them. And they are all now not on the app store anymore,as they all came out about around 2016. i did use a APK extractor to pull the APKs to store them - but the native backup functionality wouldn't capture that authorization in the future, I might rob myself of my ability to use some extremely expensive, and long-term invested capable hardware, by backing up and restoring- I suspect a full image would solve this problem, but I don't think one can do that outside of things like TWRP- but that requires unlocking the bootloader, and if you do that it wipes your device- AND is more vulnerable to Custom's usage of Cellebrite and etc, to my undertanding. I don't have this issue with laptops ,as I can fully image them and wipe and restore ahavend have a perfect replica/ no issues. But my thermal cameras do not run off of PC and th eform factor wouldn't work if they did

LWIRVoltage 2y ago

Does obtaining Global Entry minimize the chance of them deciding to harass a citizen crossing the border, I wonder? It is at the cost of your biometric - but data on your devices might be worth more, and as I note elsewhere in this thread, you can image a computer and back it up fully, but not a phone without some data loss, unfortunately. [ TWRP possibly can do it right perhaps, but it requires unlocking the bootloader (which wipes the phone), and once bootloader is unlocked, it's more vulnerable to Cellebrite and company, to my understanding, ] seeing the latest (leaked?) Cellebrite info from 2024 Summer- BFU State[Before First Unlock state] after posting on, modernimoPuxelsiPhones on the latest OS, and graphene devices see moto be the hardest to get into. Anyway- , with computers - this was a solved problem from a technical standpoint- Yes I'm talking Truecrypt then, and today Veracrypt. The Hidden Container feature is impressive- but the Hidden OS feature allows for a truly hidden OS behind the scenes that can't be found at all. However, there's a unfortunate weakness that makes this hard to use today- it's limited to MBR , not UEFI [GPT]systems- so unless you like your computer not being able to have more than 2 Tb - and only 4 partitions (so good luck If you do a lot of stuff from dualbooting to other whatnot) We need a Veracrypt Hidden OS equivalent for UEFI systems that's truly undetectable.(That also will work for Linux and maybemeMac not just Windows as Veracrypt currently does - you can only make the Hidden Volumes on the non Windows versions of VC) There was one project to do it - and there were articles and a black hat presentation on 'Russian Doll Steganogrpahy" for a OS- but it didn't go anywhere from what I can tell, and everyone is now wide open .... Unless you have a MBR system. I also think I've heard UEFI is more easily secured than MBR in general and for the foreseeable future... https://portswigger.net/daily-swig/russian-doll-steganography-allows-users-to-mask-covert-drives https://portswigger.net/daily-swig/russian-doll-steganograph... https://i.blackhat.com/eu-18/Thu-Dec-6/eu-18-Schaub-Perfectly-Deniable-Steganographic-Disk-Encryption.pdf https://i.blackhat.com/eu-18/Thu-Dec-6/eu-18-Schaub-Perfectl...

anotherevan 2y ago

> Before travelling, back up your devices so you don’t lose anything permanently. Hah! Phones are a PITA to reliably backup and restore. I outlined the pain I had with it in this recentish comment: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42652663 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42652663

OutOfHere 2y ago

Instead of just shutting down your phone, reboot it and enter the wrong password twice. With any luck, this will erase the memory remnant imprint of the actual password. After doing this, you can then shut it down if you want.

reassess_blind 2y ago

In a similar vein for laptops, Veracrypt offers (offered?) a "Hidden OS" feature that allows an OS to be stored within an encrypted container inside of another encrypted container, with two separate passwords. This allows the outside volumes password to be divulged, which would show a dummy OS and allow for plausible deniability, while the real OS is only accessible with the second password. However, this feature doesn't seem to work for Windows 11, or on some modern laptop hardware anymore? Is there other software that offers similar functionality?

sipofwater 2y ago

"One Tech Tip: Protecting your device privacy when crossing borders": https://apnews.com/article/internet-privacy-smartphones-travel-e0a3146ae7966ea0e4157dbfae1f6a81 https://apnews.com/article/internet-privacy-smartphones-trav... (apnews.com/article/internet-privacy-smartphones-travel-e0a3146ae7966ea0e4157dbfae1f6a81)

NikkiA 2y ago

No; If you're forced to go to the US, take a burner phone.