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

washingtonpost.com

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

#61

Post by elif »

9283409232 wrote: post #52
elif wrote: post #26

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

This is not practical advice either. US Customs will happily open your package and go through it for "inspection"

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

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

#63

Post by potato3732842 »

pretzellogician wrote: post #13

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.)

Truecrypt supported this decades ago, obviously not a full phone OS though.

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

#65

Post by mmmlinux »

gorgoiler wrote: post #41
gruez wrote: post #4

"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…

I used to do this but these days I’m petrified of the restore being imperfect in some way. I use the he.net app for TOTP. Will I get those back in working order? I have a billion photos I want to keep — were they properly backed up to iCloud? My mail settings are a pita to recreate. Will those come back? Are passwords stored in the Secure Enclave? Could I lose those? When I sign back into iCloud am I going to be able…

If you're worried about your backup data being correct, you don't have a backup.

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

#66

Post by tenacious_tuna »

BriggyDwiggs42 wrote: post #60
tenacious_tuna wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am not a lawyer, though I am a US citizen. First, it's the fourth amendment that protects against unreasonable search. Fifth amendment is protection against self-incrimination. My understanding is that fourth amendment protections effectively do not apply at the border [1] because the border is inherently a reasonable place to search people. In regards to being compelled to unlock your phone, CBP maintains the posi…

U got a semicolon at the end in the xkcd link

Thanks

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

#67

Post by squigz »

gorgoiler wrote: post #41
gruez wrote: post #4

"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…

I used to do this but these days I’m petrified of the restore being imperfect in some way. I use the he.net app for TOTP. Will I get those back in working order? I have a billion photos I want to keep — were they properly backed up to iCloud? My mail settings are a pita to recreate. Will those come back? Are passwords stored in the Secure Enclave? Could I lose those? When I sign back into iCloud am I going to be able…

This is why testing recovery is a critical part of any backup plan.

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

#68

Post by kevin_thibedeau »

BrandoElFollito wrote: post #57

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.

... Then they came for me — and there was no one left to speak for me.

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

#69

Post by ChocolateGod »

elif wrote: post #61
9283409232 wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is not practical advice either. US Customs will happily open your package and go through it for "inspection"

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

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.

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

#70

Post by BrandoElFollito »

kevin_thibedeau wrote: post #68
BrandoElFollito wrote: post #57

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.

... Then they came for me — and there was no one left to speak for me.

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.

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