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Follow-up: I should add that in 2025, deleting stories with a tinge of US politics is highly detrimental to the HN user base’s understanding of what is happenin

Follow-up: I should add that in 2025, deleting stories with a tinge of US politics is highly detrimental to the HN user base’s understanding of what is happening in the business world. Case in-point: a US-based family member employed at a FAANG just told me that his Canadian coworkers now reset their phones prior to entering the USA, then restore from backup. This is somewhat similar to what happens when they go to China. This is terrible for business. This kind of information should not be ignored.

Alupis 2y ago
[flagged]
- consumer451 2y ago
  > What shouldn't be ignored? Some small subset of foreign workers decided to take security seriously? That FAANG employed Canadians are suddenly taking these precautions when entering the USA, as standard practice, when coming to a meeting. Nobody can gaslight me into believing that this is a not a new thing.
  - Alupis 2y ago
    I still don't understand your point. Some people, who happen to be employed at a FAANG corp, have recently decided to protect their smart device during a border crossing, and this is cause for alarm? What exactly is on their smart device they are afraid CBP might be interested in? Why did they not protect their device before? Why now? Are there occurrences of FAANG employees having their devices taken during border crossings? For what purpose? Unless you have something definitive, this sounds like some alarmist individuals deciding to take their own personal security to the level that was already recommended of them.
    - consumer451 2y ago
      The trust signals being sent out by the USA are currently making everyone outside the USA "alarmist." As an example, as a European, price a round trip ticket from Prague to Seattle, for around 2 weeks from now. The price is currently <60% of normal. It's ~$420. These are the facts on the ground.
      - Alupis 2y ago
        What does a ticket price have to do with wiping your phone at a border? I did some fact checking on your ticket prices - you are quoting ultra-budget carriers that are normally in that price range. Normal tickets are $1200+, as you would expect. There's plenty going on right now that you don't need to make stuff up to back up your narrative. Use something real...
    - daveguy 2y ago
      > Some people, who happen to be employed at a FAANG corp, have recently decided to protect their smart device during a border crossing, and this is cause for alarm? Of course this is fucking cause for alarm. You are either cluelessly naive, or gaslighting.
    - fzeroracer 2y ago
      > What exactly is on their smart device they are afraid CBP might be interested in? Why did they not protect their device before? Why now? Are there occurrences of FAANG employees having their devices taken during border crossings? For what purpose? Do you wonder why Canada has been issuing travel warnings for people travelling to the US? Or why they've been treating the US as a hostile power given that the current admin has threatened to invade Canada and make it the 51st state? All of which are leading to a massive drop in tourism to the US?
      - Alupis 2y ago
        That's made up. Please cite some sources.
- j-bos 2y ago
  So I've had this in mind for ages, but my coworkers have only just realized it and started implementing it. Thus for most people, it's *new*s.
  - Alupis 2y ago
    The question is why was this prompted by DOGE? What DOGE action has caused a Canadian citizen employed by a US company to suddenly feel the need to protect their smart device? That is... other than sensationalism, which appears to be the story here.
    - Centigonal 2y ago
      consumer451 is providing an example of a business story that is tied to understanding US politics. The example is only tangentially related to the OP.
      - consumer451 2y ago
        Yes, indeed. Thank you for connecting my loosely strewn dots in this thread.
- int_19h 2y ago
  I can assure you that it has not been the standard corporate advice when I had to regularly travel from Canada to US for business meetings on a regular basis 15 years ago while working at a big tech company. Nor do I recall anyone else who was traveling doing that on their own. If it is the standard procedure now, then yes, that is definitely a reason to be concerned.
dang 2y ago
These stories aren't being deleted—there was quite a large thread (in fact maybe two large threads?) about precisely that, within the last couple weeks. I'll see if I can dig up the links, or maybe someone else remembers? The problem isn't that the major stories are deleted; it's that even if a story spends hours on the front page, the set of users who actually see it still has measure zero [1]. Then inevitably a few of the rest assume that they didn't see it because it was sinisterly suppressed, whether by mods or user flags. Where this ends up getting us is the 'nobody goes there anymore it's too crowded' theory of HN threads! [2] It's always been like this—it's baked into the fundamentals of how HN works (the limited frontpage space, the dynamics of the internet, the fact that most people don't use HN Search). It's just showing up more intensely these days because the times are more intense and we've been in a tsunami phase for a few months now. [1] https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=true&query=by%3Adang%20measure%20zero&sort=byDate&type=comment https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=true&que... [2] https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=true&query=by%3Adang%20nobody%20anymore%20crowded&sort=byDate&type=comment https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=true&que... --- Edit: I found these ones. Admittedly most weren't on the frontpage for all that long: EU issues US-bound staff with burner phones over spying fears - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43680556 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43680556 - April 2025 (46 comments) How to lock down your phone if you're traveling to the U.S. - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43630624 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43630624 - April 2025 (338 comments) Cell Phone OPSEC for Border Crossings - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43555597 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43555597 - April 2025 (36 comments) How to protect your phone and data privacy at the US border - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43480730 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43480730 - March 2025 (98 comments) Is it safe to travel to the United States with your phone? - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43452474 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43452474 - March 2025 (164 comments) EFF Border Search Pocket Guide - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43441895 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43441895 - March 2025 (32 comments) Ask HN: Are you afraid to travel to US to tech conferences? - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43422350 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43422350 - March 2025 (198 comments)
- consumer451 2y ago
  I meant "deleted" from by being flagged, which is a deletion from the lurkers. And yes.. absolutely I have seen some of these stories get through the gauntlet. I am really not complaining about moderation, just attempting to appeal to the users who I have assumed are doing the flagging, in general.

Alupis 2y ago

[flagged]

consumer451 2y ago
> What shouldn't be ignored? Some small subset of foreign workers decided to take security seriously? That FAANG employed Canadians are suddenly taking these precautions when entering the USA, as standard practice, when coming to a meeting. Nobody can gaslight me into believing that this is a not a new thing.
- Alupis 2y ago
  I still don't understand your point. Some people, who happen to be employed at a FAANG corp, have recently decided to protect their smart device during a border crossing, and this is cause for alarm? What exactly is on their smart device they are afraid CBP might be interested in? Why did they not protect their device before? Why now? Are there occurrences of FAANG employees having their devices taken during border crossings? For what purpose? Unless you have something definitive, this sounds like some alarmist individuals deciding to take their own personal security to the level that was already recommended of them.
  - consumer451 2y ago
    The trust signals being sent out by the USA are currently making everyone outside the USA "alarmist." As an example, as a European, price a round trip ticket from Prague to Seattle, for around 2 weeks from now. The price is currently <60% of normal. It's ~$420. These are the facts on the ground.
    - Alupis 2y ago
      What does a ticket price have to do with wiping your phone at a border? I did some fact checking on your ticket prices - you are quoting ultra-budget carriers that are normally in that price range. Normal tickets are $1200+, as you would expect. There's plenty going on right now that you don't need to make stuff up to back up your narrative. Use something real...
  - daveguy 2y ago
    > Some people, who happen to be employed at a FAANG corp, have recently decided to protect their smart device during a border crossing, and this is cause for alarm? Of course this is fucking cause for alarm. You are either cluelessly naive, or gaslighting.
  - fzeroracer 2y ago
    > What exactly is on their smart device they are afraid CBP might be interested in? Why did they not protect their device before? Why now? Are there occurrences of FAANG employees having their devices taken during border crossings? For what purpose? Do you wonder why Canada has been issuing travel warnings for people travelling to the US? Or why they've been treating the US as a hostile power given that the current admin has threatened to invade Canada and make it the 51st state? All of which are leading to a massive drop in tourism to the US?
    - Alupis 2y ago
      That's made up. Please cite some sources.
j-bos 2y ago
So I've had this in mind for ages, but my coworkers have only just realized it and started implementing it. Thus for most people, it's *new*s.
- Alupis 2y ago
  The question is why was this prompted by DOGE? What DOGE action has caused a Canadian citizen employed by a US company to suddenly feel the need to protect their smart device? That is... other than sensationalism, which appears to be the story here.
  - Centigonal 2y ago
    consumer451 is providing an example of a business story that is tied to understanding US politics. The example is only tangentially related to the OP.
    - consumer451 2y ago
      Yes, indeed. Thank you for connecting my loosely strewn dots in this thread.
int_19h 2y ago
I can assure you that it has not been the standard corporate advice when I had to regularly travel from Canada to US for business meetings on a regular basis 15 years ago while working at a big tech company. Nor do I recall anyone else who was traveling doing that on their own. If it is the standard procedure now, then yes, that is definitely a reason to be concerned.

dang 2y ago

These stories aren't being deleted—there was quite a large thread (in fact maybe two large threads?) about precisely that, within the last couple weeks. I'll see if I can dig up the links, or maybe someone else remembers? The problem isn't that the major stories are deleted; it's that even if a story spends hours on the front page, the set of users who actually see it still has measure zero [1]. Then inevitably a few of the rest assume that they didn't see it because it was sinisterly suppressed, whether by mods or user flags. Where this ends up getting us is the 'nobody goes there anymore it's too crowded' theory of HN threads! [2] It's always been like this—it's baked into the fundamentals of how HN works (the limited frontpage space, the dynamics of the internet, the fact that most people don't use HN Search). It's just showing up more intensely these days because the times are more intense and we've been in a tsunami phase for a few months now. [1] https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=true&query=by%3Adang%20measure%20zero&sort=byDate&type=comment https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=true&que... [2] https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=true&query=by%3Adang%20nobody%20anymore%20crowded&sort=byDate&type=comment https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=true&que... --- Edit: I found these ones. Admittedly most weren't on the frontpage for all that long: EU issues US-bound staff with burner phones over spying fears - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43680556 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43680556 - April 2025 (46 comments) How to lock down your phone if you're traveling to the U.S. - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43630624 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43630624 - April 2025 (338 comments) Cell Phone OPSEC for Border Crossings - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43555597 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43555597 - April 2025 (36 comments) How to protect your phone and data privacy at the US border - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43480730 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43480730 - March 2025 (98 comments) Is it safe to travel to the United States with your phone? - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43452474 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43452474 - March 2025 (164 comments) EFF Border Search Pocket Guide - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43441895 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43441895 - March 2025 (32 comments) Ask HN: Are you afraid to travel to US to tech conferences? - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43422350 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43422350 - March 2025 (198 comments)

consumer451 2y ago
I meant "deleted" from by being flagged, which is a deletion from the lurkers. And yes.. absolutely I have seen some of these stories get through the gauntlet. I am really not complaining about moderation, just attempting to appeal to the users who I have assumed are doing the flagging, in general.