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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.

#191

Post by dylan604 »

esafak wrote: post #95
rbanffy wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> because the border is inherently a reasonable place to search people. IIRC there is a radius around every international airport where such warrantless searches are legal.

https://www.aclu.org/know-your-rights/border-zone

Your link was specifically about the borders, not necessarily about airports. This link is specific to airports. (I came across this link from your link. Just providing the direct link)

https://www.aclu.org/know-your-rights/what-do-when-encounter...

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

#192

Post by actionfromafar »

Jare wrote: post #158
GenshoTikamura wrote: post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

They thought it would only be a TV dinner. The bad stuff wasn't supposed to happen on their side of the TV screen.

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

#193

Post by dylan604 »

eastbound wrote: post #71
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…

> Far better to wipe your phone and restore from backup after you've crossed the border. It’s a mantra but it’s incorrect: You’re supposed to list your “online accounts” to the border agent in the US.

don't have your backup online

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

#194

Post by dylan604 »

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…

If you know you're traveling through an adversarial border, just disable Face/Touch ID before getting to the border agents

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

#195

Post by codethief »

troyvit wrote: post #18
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.)

This would be useful beyond getting in and out of customs too. For instance, most people don't want to carry around a work phone and a personal phone, so we end up mixing two personas on one device, and it gets awful. For instance I keep two 2fa apps, one for work stuff and one for personal stuff. It would be so much easier if I could have a separate login that showed just my work apps. Like ... wouldn't it be nice t…

The ability to set up multiple user accounts has existed for a long time: https://support.google.com/android/answer/2865483?hl=en#zipp...

Side note: The sibling comments talk about creating a work profile which is different in that it still lives within the same user account and is not fully isolated.

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

#196

Post by gausswho »

IncandescentGas wrote: post #59
gorgoiler wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

Your phone could become damaged and inoperable every day. From dropping it in the toilet, being stolen, a house fire, etc. If you're "petrified" of losing your data, it's worth the work to ensure your data backup procedures are adequate.

I've spent the last month and a half building an encyrpted backup system I could sleep peacefully with, independent of tech giants that secretly compromise you. I'm almost there but it's not easy for a lot of reasons you mention and more.

Ultimately it's not enough for individuals to spend this effort for themselves. We need a self-managed option that is nearly as turnkey as iCloud. A distro with it built from the outset.

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

#197

Post by necovek »

BrandoElFollito wrote: post #70
kevin_thibedeau wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

... 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.

This a quote GP posted from a novel or opinion piece: I don't know off the top of my head, but it should be simple to look it up :)

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

#198

Post by kstrauser »

BrandoElFollito wrote: post #70
kevin_thibedeau wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

... 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.

Bluntly: fuck that. I'm many generations deep in this country, and when I travel to visit other places, I have the right to return here to the home where I was born. No part of our Constitution says I have to kiss law enforcement's butt to be permitted to come back to my house. I understand that they're trying to do their job, but the government also needs to understand that I'm not interested in participating in dragnet searches.

I feel no moral or legal obligation to let them search through all my stuff just because of their policies, which don't seem at all compliant with our highest laws and ideals.

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

#199

Post by necovek »

senderista wrote: post #169

I would love to visit Russia or Iran as a tourist, but I'll probably never be able to do that safely, and if I weren't a US citizen I would feel the same about the US. The US has many beautiful and fascinating things to see and do, but so do lots of other countries that won't throw you in a gulag.

It seems increasingly likely that it's going to be pretty pleasant to visit Russia as an American with how things are developing (Americans are learning to tone down on their freedoms, and presidents of the two countries have a lot in common so Russia and USA might just be friends again very soon now).

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

#200

Post by necovek »

MikeTheGreat wrote: post #140

I'm seeing a lot of discussion here about how to prepare your phone for a border crossing, which is fascinating. I was wondering about a different strategy: what about leaving your phone at home and then buying a new one after you've crossed the border? It seems like it wouldn't be any less work than 'clean wipe and full restore post-crossing' and has the advantage that border agents can't search what you don't have.…

Having a working phone is very useful for the rest of your trip in case of any issue during the trip.
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