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> Before traveling, back up your devices so you don’t lose anything permanently. Then delete anything you’re worried about being misinterpreted or saved by the government. That can include conversations that compromise the privacy of the people on the other end. You might delete messages about politics, contact information for political dissidents, apps that save offline copies of sensitive documents like Google Docs…
I would imagine that stories, snapchat, and disappearing message features are probably safe, but I tell my loved-ones that it's not exactly clear what type of meta-data might remain on the device even using those features.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Your country exchanges this information with the US, and the other five eyes countries. So it is even worse than just US CBP employees eyeing it.
I'm not sure information sharing with the US is going to last at this rate.
Canada ending their intelligence sharing with the US would be a big win for citizens in the US and Canada. They basically rely on sharing records with a government with a very hostile and notoriously flawed justice system (that in practice results in quite racist results) and then using it to judge US citizens, which favors other immigrants from countries with weak or less flawed criminal systems or ones that do not share information with Canada.
Ignoring the US political situation for a moment I want to point out how ridiculous modern phones and apps storage access given to their users is. You used to be able to mount a phone as a full hard drive and have access to all your files, do a real full backup without some encrypted databases that only facebook, google or apple hold the key for. The first tragedy is that we accepted that the US gives no rights to no…
But Stallman is a kook.
I remember looking at a friend's bookshelves and noticing a travel guide to the Soviet Union. It had a short chapter on what to expect when crossing the border and the fact you might be followed by the security services. And what do we have in 2025? I don't think it was a Lonely Planet https://www.bbc.com/ahistoryoftheworld/objects/AP5ln7N8TRGkf...
As far as I understand, the key point was visa processing. If they considered you suspicious (maybe because you were a reporter or a religious worker), they might flag you for surveillance. Otherwise they didn't really care. The expectation was that you would exchange currency in the black market, because the official rates were terrible. And that you might make some money by selling western goods. If you were part of a tour group, the chances are your official Intourist guide was involved in this.
> Before traveling, back up your devices so you don’t lose anything permanently. Then delete anything you’re worried about being misinterpreted or saved by the government. That can include conversations that compromise the privacy of the people on the other end. You might delete messages about politics, contact information for political dissidents, apps that save offline copies of sensitive documents like Google Docs…
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"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…
> refusing to divulge the 20 characters password isn't really an option > wipe your phone and restore from backup If they can compel you to divulge the password, then they can compel you to restore from backup in front of them.
if they're really out to target you and they've got you under investigation, then maybe they know what your primary email account is and that your phone isn't signed in to it. but the advice here is for the traveller who just doesn't want to be hassled at the border by the guard who wants to flex their power.
I'm just not going to go to the US frankly. Only reason I would is tourism, and I like my vacations harassment & risk of detainment free
> Before traveling, back up your devices so you don’t lose anything permanently. Then delete anything you’re worried about being misinterpreted or saved by the government. That can include conversations that compromise the privacy of the people on the other end. You might delete messages about politics, contact information for political dissidents, apps that save offline copies of sensitive documents like Google Docs…
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