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The wiped laptop certainly doesn't look like that of a normal user without adding stuff.
> normal user The normal user browses the web and almost nothing else.
use truecrypt
be coerced to give away your truecrypt password.
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Theres another case, though. Some people have no choice but to be "difficult". Consider, for example, a lawyer from an international firm travelling with company devices, which have on them privileged information that can under no circumstances be disclosed. These kinds of people have no choice but to be "difficult".
Those people don't carry that data with them, if they're competent or have competent IT staff. They have already configured VPNs with 2FA, burner laptops and mobile devices, or simply mail the devices via registered post to the hotel and have them picked up there. Device moving through the mail system don't get seen by the border grunts.
You've made a great point here.
What criminal is also going to carry their incriminating data with them? This isn't an effective policy. What problem does it actually solve?
Is it an option to just feign ignorance and claim not to know the password? Sure, they might confiscate it but I guess then you'll have to find a cheap alternative to restore your backups to until/if you get it back.
More people standing up and saying no is one of the few things that might actually make a difference.
Absolutely not. Having lived outside the US for two years (so far), I halfway expect to encounter suspicion when I return. I absolutely will not stand for this. I will not cooperate and I will resist as much as possible, short of violence.
The only effective resistance is to not cross the border. As soon as you move into the transit area you are devoid of rights, privileges and protections afforded anywhere else and completely at the mercy of the person in front of you. Give them a snarky remark and you'll spend just enough time in a small room while they run "additional checks" to miss your flight.
Unfortunately the recommended behavior is to be "difficult". Trying to somehow state your own rights, demand that officers perform searches in accordance with law etc. - which is "being difficult". If you are on your way to a great holiday, important meeting etc, you aren't going to risk it. Because anyone "being difficult" will be detained or rejected. So I'll just fold and give them my password. And they know this.…
However I would never give my password to anyone. As a matter of principle, giving out your password is like betraying yourself.
Granted, I've never been asked, so I'm not sure what amount of pressure / threats I can withstand. I hope it's a lot, because asking someone for his password is insane and despicable.
Chromebooks will be flying off the shelves after this. They are only allowed to view content on the device itself, not access any cloud-stored data.
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I sometimes have to go to the US for business purposes but from now on will only do so with a wiped computer with just enough installed to look like a normal user's data.
Just have multi-boot and before crossing set the auto-boot timeout at 0, then change it later. If you want to be safe, you can also copy and delete the boot details for your actual partition. I leave a dummy partition with Windows, office and other shortcuts and a wallpaper of a cat during my US visits. I also have both a facebook and a gmail subscribed to all the spam you can get. Not because I have any criminal act…
I am confused,surely non-citizens have no rights or recourse to the law at an airport?
In any case, I am concerned that your approach would be defeated if they took an image of your hard drive and threw some basic tools at it. They probably have this as a kit.
I don't know if it worries my American chums, but I won't visit the USA. As a foreign tourist bringing money into your economy I feel there is a very real risk to my privacy and increasingly my person. I am beginning to favour goods and services from EU where human rights still mean something. Perhaps it doesn't matter to you how the US is perceived overseas, perhaps you don't want my money. Perhaps you don't mind be…
EDIT: That was a knee-jerk reaction. Sorry about that.
I don't know if it worries my American chums, but I won't visit the USA. As a foreign tourist bringing money into your economy I feel there is a very real risk to my privacy and increasingly my person. I am beginning to favour goods and services from EU where human rights still mean something. Perhaps it doesn't matter to you how the US is perceived overseas, perhaps you don't want my money. Perhaps you don't mind be…
Isn't it the same with Canada, though? I admit, I only watched those Border Patrol Shows on Netflix and what not, but it always disturbed me how much they always wanted to check the whole phone.