France’s research minister said a French scientist was denied entry to the US this month after immigration officers at an airport searched his phone and found messages in which he had expressed criticism of the Trump administration.
I told my wife before I could never go to the US because of the stuff I write online, now I’m sure of it
Travel advise: prepare for a trip to the US like you’d prepare for a trip to Russia or China. (Note: being an anarchist who thinks Putin, Xi and Trump don’t deserve a separate rope for each, I wouldn’t consider a visit.)
Don’t bring your real computing device. Bring an empty device from which you can VPN to a system that actually has your data.
If you need to bring an encrypted device, consider the possibility that authorities will attempt to coerce you into unlocking it (and will cause you great disruption and indignity if you won’t). You might be safer bringing a concealed + encrypted microSD card and a device loaded with an OS intended to be searched. If the data matters, make sure you cannot unlock your device under coercion.
(Trivial method: send your friend in the US a snailmail letter. Ask them to keep the letter until your arrival. Into the letter, steganographically embed the OTP key material to obtain the passphrase to decrypt your device. Now to decrypt the device, three things will be needed: your cooperation and knowledge, the device, and the letter. And you can deny that the letter contains anything.)
My entry to China was really easy. I’m very concerned about my return trip to the US. I have to come back at my home and family are there… doors anyone know if I’m denied entity if I can just book and flight and leave? Why do I need to have the government deport off in rolling to go on my own?
I’m not quite sure I’d call that trivial, haha.
There’s also the option of making a hidden partition or otherwise doing stenography within the device. I’m guessing for most travelers just pretty surface level hiding of things will be enough, though. TSA agents are not cybersecurity experts.
Freedom of speech, eh? Guess I’m banned if they find out about this account or my Bluesky account.
Fuck this shitty ass country.
I have a burner but it seems like you need to create social media accounts filled with non political content and keep them updated so they don’t look fake. Anyone know how to automate this?
don’t do this. it’s a waste of your time. if you’re actually scared of the us government, the answer is to stop using social media
The answer is to stop visiting the US.
I mean, there could be situations where one doesn’t have a choice. Definitely try and avoid it, though, and don’t go for fun.
Elbows up buddy! 🍁
Not just the US government.
The issue is border control won’t believe you don’t have any social media accounts and might refuse entry.
Amazing to think that they criticised “freedom of speech” in Europe
Freedom for me but not for thee
The US has turned in Russia for real. Russians were checking phones at the border when the war started.
Wow, ok. You, guys (Americans), are royally fucked over there. Yet another reason not to visit the US ever.
usa was always “Russia”. The difference is usa have a massive propaganda apparatus to make us think you are the goodies and who are the baddies
Well it was limited to " the browns" before.
I am going to die in a concentration camp before 2028
if we are poop buddies i will share my sardines with you
Translation: if you’re going to the US you might have to immediately find a flight back because their government might go through your phone and find out that you rightfully criticised their great orange leader. Glad I managed to visit before, America can go and choke on their aspirations.
The Nazis literally did this with a law. They made it illegal to be critical of the party. Fuck the alarm, we’ve already been had.
Might as well start wearing red triangles now🔻
Yup. “But we’re not there yet”, so they say. “Too soon to act rashly”.
'First they started mass deportations, but it wasn’t a corrupt system yet, so we did not act.
Then they started refusing people who were critical of them, but it wasn’t a corrupt system yet, so we did not act.
Then they started blatantly taking money from the poor and give it to the rich, but it wasn’t a corrupt system yet, so we did not act.
Finally they fully took over the nation, but by then all the people who would have acted were already gone and dealt with.’
Not all, but the gist of it. Thankfully some bubbles of resistance are starting to form in the US, but the main people who were elected to uphold the law and fight this democraticly are already bribed or blackmailed, so it’s in great part up to the people, and whatever stance the army ends up taking when they are forced to choose between loyalty to the constitution, or an individual.
the scientists were smart enough to flee Germany or places that nazis occupied. i see this going to happen with USa if not already, US already has a problem with shortages in some areas of stem. its a complex set of problems all around, this latest fiasco just adds into it.
This is dark. They aren’t bothering to hide what’s going on anymore.
Usually I respect the honesty more than the subterfuge.
But when it’s Nazi’s. Nope. Wouldn’t piss on them if they were on fire.
You respect the honesty because it reveals people’s character. And if a person thinks that Taylor Swift is an awful singer, then cool, you can agree or disagree.
But when it’s honesty about contempt for your fellow man? A punch in the face is the only thing that works.
Sounds like a case of “MAGA snowflake syndrome” smh
Actual TDS. In that TDS is anyone who likes that fascist.
Always has been
What? A scientist who is critical of Trump?? How can that be???
or one that contradicts him, aka fauci.
Republicans are really mad that reality has a left wing bias
There tends to be a general distaste toward politicians in general among the scientific community.
How strange that all the people who think don’t like Trump?
Studies have consistwntly shown that the more education one gets, the more their political view skews left. It explains why colleges, staffed and managed by PhDs, tend to be left-wing. That’s why the Conservative Propaganda Machine has to constantly attack education.
Dictators hate intellectuals.
I don’t even have to name any specific one, its a trend across all dictatorships.
Funny that the US has become more like Russia since Trump was elected.
How’d they get into his phone? Face or fingerprint?
Make sure you turn off biometrics before traveling. They can’t force you to disclose a passcode.
EDIT: Actually, if you have to travel to the USA, wipe your phone before you leave.
Years ago they would already ask for social media accounts and email address on US visa forms, it was creepy back them , scary now.
So, what if I as an american, travel to canada. On my re-entry, am i going to get my phone searched for anti-maga stuff?
The US Government cannot deny US Citizens from entering the US.* However, they can (and mostly likely will) seize all your belongings and detain you for up to 48 hours. So its best to wipe your devices before crossing the border (both ways). They can deny permanent residents (aka: green card holders) from entry.
*for now
But my real advice is: Unless you are intending to migrate permanently, do not cross the US borders (neither in nor out) under the current administration.
They could try. They can compel you to open it with Face ID or fingerprint. If that’s turned off they cannot compel you to disclose your passcode. They can seize your phone. They cannot prevent you from entering the country.
They’re probably only going to do it with some kind of suspicion. But that suspicion could be the border protection officer is having a bad day.
They cannot prevent you from entering the country.
Only applies to US citizens. Any non-citizen, including Permanent Residents (aka: Green Card holders), could be denied entry.
Thanks. It’s fucking wild the things we have to be concerned about in this upside down timeline.
They could always do this before, it was jsut that previous administrations weren’t this insane to actually do it.
IIRC they can compel you to unlock your phone. Or just deny you entry if you don’t. It’s best to make sure you travel with a ‘clean’ phone and PC, border patrol got ridiculous powers in the patriot act and nobody’s ever rolled any of it back despite decades of abuses.
ive seen people buy budget/used phones and leave thier main ones at home.
I’ve got old phones that I’ve been considering for this use.
They both still work, minus the cellular data. So I’m having a tough time deciding between making my actual phone squeaky clean, or using the old ones have making it a bitch to get home from the airport with no internet to call an uber/friend/deal with airline shenanigans.
Since when did travel to the US become worse than to Russia? This is shocking…
or avoid going to america
I’ve been very purposefully avoiding the US ever since the Patriot Act exactly because it became possible for the TSA to riffle through your electronics (even confiscate them) and do this kind of shit.
Then on top of that festering pit of autocracy which, by the way, nobody reversed in all this time, Trump added the risk of ICE detention and “free trip to El Salvador (to go check a mega prison there)”.
Yep, 12 years of Democrats in charge and none of them did anything to reign in this whole apparatus that could easily be abused by an autocrat. Now Trump has a turnkey surveillance state that can be turned on anyone in the country. All your internet traffic, current location, licence plate readers, face recognition, etc. It was all created to alternately catch terrorists or pedophiles, and now Trump is going to use it against anyone he doesn’t like.
And it’s not like nobody was warned, there was plenty of dissent about the patriot act from experts and the people, but politicians were just like ‘don’t worry, it’ll only be used against terrorists’. Guess what, everyone’s going to be deemed a terrorist now. They’re trying to charge Luigi with terrorism already (and those are state charges in a Democratic state).
Yep, 12 years of Democrats in charge and none of them did anything to reign in this whole apparatus
Its hard to actually repeal it. Any politician, republican, democrat, independent, whatever, who does so, and then a terrorist attack happens, they take the blame. That’s why nobody tries. Its not an excuse tho, its just an explanation.
Definitely.
As a Latin American, the US is the very last county I want to visit on the entire continent. Literally the only thing that I kind of want to see there is the Lego store in NYC.
Better off going to Legoland in Denmark in that case.
They can still make your life difficult though. I think the better option is don’t fly into or through US territory if you can help it.
Get a burner for ANY international travel.
Consider it an insurance expense as a part of the trip.
They will also ask you for your password for online accounts and refuse entry if you don’t. And as we have all seen recently that does not necessarily mean “next flight home”.
people can make social media accounts full of soft core rat erotica just for travel purposes.
John Oliver? Is it really you?
Just don’t come here unless you have to. And get a burner if you do come.
If you have an android device, setup a second user account with nothing on it and use that when going through customs.
I mean, you might fool them. But its best to just backup everything to a Non-US cloud provider in an encrypted format, and wipe the device before leaving. I wouldn’t rely on the “multi-user” trick. Who knows what forensics tools they have.
How’d they get into his phone? Face or fingerprint?
I was looking for this as well. It seems like a rather important piece of info for the article to leave out.
Here’s how the borders work:
“Sir/Ma’am, please unlock your device”
“No”
“Entry Denied”
(Except for US Citizens, they cannot be denied entry* even if they refuse to unlock their device, however, their devices could be confiscated
*for now)
