There’s something ironic about reading this with a Home Depot (huge Trump supporter) ad embedded in it.
Don’t carry digital data across any border, even if encrypted. Many countries have totally different standards over search and seizure at their borders to when you have gained entry and sometimes far worse for non citizens.
Australia has full rights to search hardware on entry. Careful coming here too.
Exactly. Don’t make assumptions just because you are travelling to a “friendly” country.
Wondering when my publishing record qualifies me for asylum.
Just like going to china.
Ngl China didn’t touch my phone upon entry. Think my iris got scanned though and certainly got full palm printed.
One of the two people I know who have been to china had their phone taken for hours when they arrived. The other person reported much the same experience as you. The friend who had her phone taken was a US citizen but born of Chinese immigrants. The other who didn’t get their phone taken was not. I can’t help but think that her parents status there had something to do with.
That one born of Chinese immigrants would have been considered a citizen of China by the guards, not of the USA.
What the actual fuck is going on with my country?!? For fuck sake, not all of us are fascist bellends.
Travel to the US and it’s your own fault. We have been warned.
My partner is a scientist and has to travel to the US for work later this year. We’re both dreading it, given all these stories of people being detained at the border.
Thats why you should use a Google Pixel with GraphineOS and a unique 20+ digit password (along with a secure VPN like Mullvad)
Would Private Internet Access work? That is my VPN.
They have mossad ties. Their CEO or something is a former spy. It’s owned by Israel.
https://hackread.com/private-internet-access-pia-vpn-sold-israel-privacy-concerns/
NOW YOU TELL ME! I have a three year plan with them!
💀
VPNs you should look into:
Proton*
Mullvad
IVPN
*Proton had a controversy involving the CEO claiming “Republicans are the party that ‘fight for the little guy’” so… do your own research. But they are also the best when it comes to amount of servers, so its less likely to get blocked by websites.
I have the free proton on my phone. I can use it there at least
In the same boat. I’m going to have to drop em and switch to mullvad.
No avg person is doing this. Get a second phone with alias accounts.
I use GraphineOS and tbh its not inconvenient to use
Convincing someone to completely change their operating system isn’t easy from the start.
If you’re genuenly worried about your security it makes sense, the average person however doesn’t care so they wont do anything to increase security
TBH, buying a cheap Chinese burner phone with no security relevant data on it just for traveling to the US, might be better security wise than buying an expensive Google Pixel Phone with GrapheneOS on it.
Especially now where Google, a US company and bound by its laws, that produces these devices, might (start) hand(ing) out backdoor keys to their hardware.
But with Graphene&Co you can make full backups, store them externally (e.g. selfhosted cloud) and then just apply before/after crossing borders as needed. Plus doing that makes a duress wipe way less painful if you ever need to. Tho, if you’re somewhere where they’re likely to just keep it instead of forcing an unlock or copying data, a cheap burner that doesn’t hurt to loose is still the better idea…
That is a good option. I am actually quite careful about what I use my phone for. I still on occasion use Google maps, but i turn location history off and I always delete previous searches.
I am aware that this does not remove them from google’s database, but it does make your movements not immediately obvious.
Also i would delete browser history and log out of all social media accounts (and disable remembering usernames/passwords) and even uninstall some apps in order to make who you interact eith less immediately obvious. Once you clear the border fully you can reinstall everything at your earliest convenience.
You may want to try Organic Maps. It can probably help in 80% of situations where you use Google Maps.
They would just deny entry if you refuse to unlock.
I got a secret for you. Grapheneos has a duress password feature, if you type it in, it completely wipes the phone. Give them that password and act surprised when the phone shits itself
That will accomplish you preventing them from seeing the contents of your phone. It will also accomplish you not getting past the border. At best.
That’s not news. The US has for a long time reading/copying contents of electric devices at the border
Bingo. If anything, use of a burner phone will be purposely misconstrued as “suspicious”, and used as justification for more thorough screening.
“You just got it last week? That’s weird, we usually only hear drug smugglers using new phones. You’re not smuggling fentanyl, are you? OK, so you won’t mind if I take a look through your luggage to be sure, right? Maybe I should send you to secondary screening for an x-ray.”
They never asked to see my phone at the border. But the last time I crossed they were getting a hell of a lot more aggressive. They got less aggressive when I became a Canadian citizen, but when I only had my Lebanese passport they almost always brought me in for more questioning. It was kinda bizarre. They probably aggressively searched my luggage, but I can’t be sure of that.
My checked luggage used to be searched when I went to usa. I knew it was searched because tsa would leave a pamphlet inside my luggage saying that it was searched. I believe they have stopped leaving such pamphlet but I won’t be surprised if they still search luggages.
I used to get “randomly” searched every time I fly in the US until I was sent to the side room for more extensive search and interview.
After that I never got randomly searched anymore whenever I go through the airport.
I think once they know everything and judged that I’m not going to be a problem, I stopped getting flagged.
From the news, this time feels a bit different.
Unfortunately I’ll avoid crossing the border until things settle down in a few years. I don’t want to get whisked away by ICE for looking at someone funnyAirlines always check their stuff. Border crossings via greyhound bus or car are not always.
They got less aggressive when I became a Canadian citizen, but when I only had my Lebanese passport they almost always brought me in for more questioning.
This but with passport origins instead of skin color.
People have told me that I could pass for an Italian… hmm…
While technically true, they weren’t kicking out foreign visitors for being critical if the president.
I used to train people in a specific culinary technique, and i had clients from all over the world, including Muslim clients from the Middle East and India. Most had no problem visiting, but one was stopped at the border and heavily grilled.
His visa said he was here for vacation and educational purposes, but when they went through his texts, they determined that he was here for business purposes, and threatened to confiscate his cash, and reject him from entering the country.
After a few hours, he eventually convinced them that he had considered his training with me to be educational rather than business for his visa, and it just an honest mistake, with no nefarious purpose, and was finally released so he could visit me, and get his training.
This was about 10 years ago, and I don’t remember who was president. It was either Trump or Obama.
2015 was Obama afaik. Trump came in 2016.
Obama was president for all of 2016 as well. Trump elected in 2016 but not sworn in until 2017.
Just don’t go at all.
This is the only solution. I would rather eat nails than go to the States again.
I read that as snails and was about to comment “bonjour” … instead I did the joke in this meta way
It’s not that uncommon for border patrol to go through your phone. I went to Canada 6-7 years ago and they went through my sister’s phone because she told them she wanted to meet a Canadian friend she had made online. Border patrol read their conversations while we waited in a confinement room. It was the last time I went to Canada
So they were trying to keep your sister from being human trafficked and you had a tantrum and refused to come back? Probably not a big loss for Canada.
No I went to Canada and had a great time. Since Canada will search your phone I calmly decided to vacation elsewhere. Really not a big deal.
Good luck finding anywhere else in the world where you aren’t subject to the search of your electronics. Canada appreciates your decision not to visit again.
Subject to and having it happen are different.
Also as a third party observer of this conversation, stop being a dick
I’ve travelled to dozens of countries and the only one where my phone was searched was the US. They searched a sanitized decoy phone. My actual phone was at home safe and sound. I didn’t cross my arms and stomp my feet and say I was never doing back because I’m not a petulant, entitled child. I understand that I am subject to the laws of the country that I’m visiting and go prepared. I think that anyone who swears that they are never going to visit a country that searched their sister’s phone to make sure she wasn’t walking into being human trafficked is someone that we can quite happily do without visiting our country.
If that’s being a dick then I’m a dick.
That’s not what makes you a dick. Your attitude, word choice, and insistence on being right is what’s making you a dick in my eyes.
However I just saw you’re an engineer so I’ll subtract 10 dick points because I know most of y’all can’t even help yourselves from thinking you’re the absolute authority on what’s right and wrong.
I’m not insisting on being right. I am right.
Cool. There really isn’t anything there worth seeing except people with beady eyes and flapping heads. Btw your maple syrup is tasteless, overpriced, and something only a douche bag would enjoy.
Turn off your phone before going through customs or tsa. They can’t compel you to give your password out, but biometrics don’t fall under that category.
And they can refuse you entry if you don’t comply.
For those of us with GrapheneOS, you could maybe set up a different user profile solely for travel? Hopefully they wouldn’t look closely enough to see that it’s not the real one
That feels like a pretty big gamble when the consequence for losing is being detained by ICE.
Sleeping on an airport bench for your 2 week business trip knowing you’re getting fired when you get home
Why would you get fired? Like they would have to justify it and I dont think “I was oppressed when visiting a fascist police state” is a legally permissible reason to fire someone in most countries
“Traveling to the US,” are you actually mad??
It’s fine, same as it always was crossing the border, just don’t fuck around lying to border guards or announce you’re taking bookings for tattoos this week in Seattle on Instagram. Basically the news has decided to publicize this shit like it wasn’t happening 2 months ago either, same as how they focus on “kids in cages” only when a republican is president or plane crashes that 2 weeks there.
