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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.

#151

Post by aeternum »

incanus77 wrote: post #127

One lesser-known tip for iPhones with FaceID or TouchID: press and hold the lock button and one of the volume buttons until prompted for power options/medical ID/emergency call. You'll then have to enter a passcode in order to use those auth methods again. Having to reveal a passcode can sometimes be considered a higher bar than biometric auth. You can do this even when in it's in your pocket without looking, quite q…

Pretty much every country you travel to can detain you at the border simply for being suspicious. You generally have very few rights as a non-citizen and have to decide if you will really risk being detained vs. giving up your phone passcode.

Better to use a burner/travel phone.

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

#152

Post by root_axis »

standeven wrote: post #142
root_axis wrote: post #122

Too technical and nerve-racking for my loved ones traveling across the border. The solution most people I know (who are not born in the u.s.) have landed on is don't post or share any political articles, memes or reels, especially in DMs. If someone sends you political content, delete the message afterwards. The silver lining is that eschewing that content has some mental health benefits. I would imagine that stories…

“Just don’t share opinions” is not an option for a free society. Being gagged for fear of retribution from a foreign government is not beneficial to my mental health.

Obviously not, but locking down your phone is just not practical for most people. Of course, avoiding travel to the u.s. is the safest approach, but it's not that simple for many of us who have spouses, siblings, parents etc who were not born in the u.s.

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

#153

Post by wat10000 »

Vuska wrote: post #14

The US is hardly the only country where this is the case and locking down your phone is almost entirely pointless (see xkcd #538). If you're concerned about having it searched, don't bring your primary phone. Go to a phone shop, buy an old phone, put your SIM card in it, and use that instead.

Going 538 on a US citizen would be a massive escalation. I'm not saying it's impossible, but if it ever comes up, I'll roll the dice on not unlocking my phone.

If you're worried about being beaten until you divulge your info, it's not like a burner phone is going to save you. They'll extract the login info for all your online accounts.

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

#154

Post by aeternum »

standeven wrote: post #142
root_axis wrote: post #122

Too technical and nerve-racking for my loved ones traveling across the border. The solution most people I know (who are not born in the u.s.) have landed on is don't post or share any political articles, memes or reels, especially in DMs. If someone sends you political content, delete the message afterwards. The silver lining is that eschewing that content has some mental health benefits. I would imagine that stories…

“Just don’t share opinions” is not an option for a free society. Being gagged for fear of retribution from a foreign government is not beneficial to my mental health.

Then don't travel, in many countries the penalty for disparaging the leader of that country is quite severe.

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

#156

Post by root_axis »

dboreham wrote: post #139
root_axis wrote: post #122

Too technical and nerve-racking for my loved ones traveling across the border. The solution most people I know (who are not born in the u.s.) have landed on is don't post or share any political articles, memes or reels, especially in DMs. If someone sends you political content, delete the message afterwards. The silver lining is that eschewing that content has some mental health benefits. I would imagine that stories…

The solution for my family: don't travel to the US until the fascist regime is ousted.

A totally rational choice and certainly the safest one. However, some people are are willing to take the risk in order to be with their loved ones.

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

#158

Post by Jare »

GenshoTikamura wrote: post #90
ty6853 wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's my experience that once you get sent to secondary they have already decided to fuck you, they are just deciding which flimsy excuse they will use to do it. My totally non-legal conjecture (and livid experience) is if you are a citizen they will play mind games with you in secondary or a holding cell for hours to a day or so and then eventually reluctantly release you after muttering threats about revoking your p…

Detainment for having a phone without any content in it is just pure and utter fascism.

Authoritarianism always finds a way, but it's shocking that 60 million invited it for dinner.

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

#159

Post by gosub100 »

miros_love wrote: post #102

Not sure about CBP specifically, but many countries already use specialized tools to break into phones and silently install backdoors — Cellebrite comes to mind. As my favorite blogger puts it: "If the data is important, it's not stored in only one place. If there's no backup, it wasn't important." With that in mind, wiping the device and filling the gallery with high-resolution images of genitals covered in excremen…

> and that we've largely normalized this.

This (along with healthcare) are examples for the "both parties are the same" refrain.

Neither side wants or advocates for the status quo (for US citizens to lose their rights at the border) but neither side is doing anything about it. They could easily eliminate the "constitution-free zone" exemption at borders and airports, but from what I can see, no lawmakers are talking about it.

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