Earlier quoted context omitted.
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As someone from totalitarian regime, I can say you clearly don't appreciate freedoms that you have.
How to lock down your phone if you're traveling to the U.S.
261–270 of 363 posts
Re: How to lock down your phone if you're traveling to the U.S.
#262Re: How to lock down your phone if you're traveling to the U.S.
#263> 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…
How does a country "consider itself?" I mean, I get that the propaganda mouthpieces push this message, but that's not quite the same thing. Meanwhile there are very few countries that don't have the same type of border security that we do for foreign nationals. This advice is just as pertinent if you travel to the UK or almost any EU country.
Us Americans have been taught exceptionalism all our lives. The people consider themselves to have built and to live in the freest and generally most superlative country that ever was.
We were pretty "soft" (dislike the term) on the land borders and on immigration. Fairly easy to enter, to claim asylum, to live and work on different sides, and so on.
I don't have an answer for the question of if we should be making our border security as intense as it can be elsewhere, but I don't love the story of just doing as other countries do. We're exceptional, right?
I don't think this is a great comment I'm writing, but it's how I feel about things right now.
Re: How to lock down your phone if you're traveling to the U.S.
#264Earlier quoted context omitted.
I'm deeply displeased with their treatment of legal residents here, but denaturalizing a citizen is about a million times more severe than deporting a legal resident alien. The executive has pretty much unlimited authority to decide which non-citizens are allowed to enter or stay within the country, and has for a long time, whereas that's not the case with denaturalization.
Does knowingly blowing up a citizen with a drone count as denaturalization?
Case in point. People are still talking about that one guy more than all the other victims combined.
Re: How to lock down your phone if you're traveling to the U.S.
#265Earlier quoted context omitted.
Recent enough Androids have this "Work Profile" feature. You get two app stores, and work apps get little "work" overlay. There are separate lock settings and sound/notification settings for work profiles too - I think this means you can have simple pincode for personal stuff and more complex for work one. And you can turn off all work apps at once with a single button press. And if your admin gives "remote wipe" com…
You can use Shelter to create your own work profile: https://f-droid.org/packages/net.typeblog.shelter/ Sadly it doesn't seem to work on all phones.
Second this! I use island which is pretty similar
it works on most flagships nowadays, so if you've got an okay phone, you're likely good
Re: How to lock down your phone if you're traveling to the U.S.
#266Earlier quoted context omitted.
So did I - and I kinda liked the place (not the border police, it seemed as if they hated me and hated the fact that I was coming to spend money there).
CBP hates everybody, citizen and non-citizen alike.
Indeed. I'm a dual citizen - U.S. and that country to the north that Dear Leader keeps threatening. I have to cross the border relatively often and have noticed shift in tone in the last few months. Instead of asking me where I'm going, they have been asking me "where do you want to go." It's inconsequential, really; and they've never truly harassed me. It's just a subtle power flex that seems new, as if they would really prefer to deny me entry.
Re: How to lock down your phone if you're traveling to the U.S.
#267Earlier quoted context omitted.
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As someone from totalitarian regime, I can say you clearly don't appreciate freedoms that you have.
There is not a binary choice between America or a totalitarian regime.
As an American, I recognize there are systems that can make us less free and I want to call them out in hopes that we will eventually address these issues so we have a more free society.
Various countries have laws to prevent at least some subset of the issues I’ve raised.
Re: How to lock down your phone if you're traveling to the U.S.
#268Earlier quoted context omitted.
How does a country "consider itself?" I mean, I get that the propaganda mouthpieces push this message, but that's not quite the same thing. Meanwhile there are very few countries that don't have the same type of border security that we do for foreign nationals. This advice is just as pertinent if you travel to the UK or almost any EU country.
Us Americans have been taught exceptionalism all our lives. The people consider themselves to have built and to live in the freest and generally most superlative country that ever was. We were pretty "soft" (dislike the term) on the land borders and on immigration. Fairly easy to enter, to claim asylum, to live and work on different sides, and so on. I don't have an answer for the question of if we should be making o…
> have been taught
As I said, and not to be flip, but "propaganda mouthpieces." The odd part about "social media" is that it actually instills a sense of reward in people when they uncritically repeat what they've been told like a Manchurian candidate. While at the same time being an outlet for their frustrations with the outcome of these same policies and ideals.
> live in the freest and generally most superlative country
Since the 1950s the government has been opening and reading peoples mail. We had the Church Committee and the House Select Committee on Assassinations. In this era people did not make the same mistake. This notion of the "freest" country honestly started after 2001. "They hate us because of our freedom," was a useful excuse to invade Afghanistan and Iraq.
> We were pretty "soft" (dislike the term) on the land borders and on immigration.
That depends on your perspective. The cold war certainly had an impact on some citizens of the world more than others. The 2001 trade center attack just moved the goalposts. Here we are moving them again.
> but it's how I feel about things right now.
That's the most valuable thing you could possibly do. Thank you.
Re: How to lock down your phone if you're traveling to the U.S.
#269This article is a nice reminder that free speech is awesome. Also, it is terribly unhelpful and uninformative. Schneier’s blog post on this has tons of useful information in the comments: https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2025/04/cell-phone-op... The EFF wrote the canonical guide to this in 2017: https://www.eff.org/wp/digital-privacy-us-border-2017 . I don’t know if it has been updated, but there is a lot that’…
As a US citizen it is still a bit useful. You cannot be denied entry (CBP has told me they would deny me entry, but in the end they just threaten to revoke your passport which is also a lie). If they have decided they want to search your phone, they will tell you that you just have to answer the questions and they will let you out in time to catch your next flight or whatever. The truth is they are vicious liars, as…
> they just threaten to revoke your passport which is also a lie
Insofar as the current regime has little or no respect for the rule of law, particularly due process, I can imagine them revoking someone's passport. The Secretary of State could certify that you have engaged in activities abroad that are opposed to U.S. foreign policy. On paper, the conditions for revocation are rather narrow. In practice with an adverse administration and a largely captured judicial branch, who knows? Either way, personally I don't care. No warrant - no looksies.
Re: How to lock down your phone if you're traveling to the U.S.
#270Earlier quoted context omitted.
IMO the USA is not becoming one of those countries and people are just fearmongering. But legally they can do it so it's better to take precautions anyway.
Why do you say it's fearmongering? There have already been several examples of it in recent months. Here's one example: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/mar/19/trump-musk-f...
DHS claims he admitted to having confidential info from Los Alamos that violated an NDA https://x.com/TriciaOhio/status/1902881013220385220
It also sounds like the guy was actively and openly trying to convince researchers to leave the US for France. May have even been the purpose of the trip.
Free speech is one thing, extending a visa to foreign individuals that are actively working against the country's interests is another. Few if any countries would grant visas knowing that intent.