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1Password Travel Mode: Protect your data when crossing borders

blog.agilebits.com

291–300 of 553 posts

Re: 1Password Travel Mode: Protect your data when crossing borders

#291
post #116

The right solution to this problem is, when traveling, always answer "no" to "may I search your laptop?" It sucks, and it many mean a lot of hassle ranging from confiscated equipment to being held at the border to being refused entry, but this is just one of the new risks of travel. Border security only gets away with this because people say yes. Companies need to make clear to their employees (and the public) that s…

Do you honestly think customs agents care whether you'll get fired or not? US immigrations will permanently sever families that have been together for years or even decades with utter disregard for the emotional trauma they're inflicting. Your job matters exactly fuck-all to a CPB agent.

Does customs anywhere else the world care more? Explain your refusal to allow a search to a Chinese, Korean or UK customs official.

Re: 1Password Travel Mode: Protect your data when crossing borders

#292
One other way: change your password to a temporary one, give it to a trusted friend who changes it. You don't know the password, you can tell the truth to the border agent.

Once you're out of their hands, ask for it back and change it again.

Even if the friend is in the US, they cannot compell her/him to release it easily, US laws apply.

There must be a way to also encrypt the new temporary password with 2 keys so that the trusted friend cannot access your encryped content without your own key.

Re: 1Password Travel Mode: Protect your data when crossing borders

#293
post #260
post #2

The implementation looks sound, and it's easy to use. Props to Agile Bits for making this feature a priority. So this is great! -- I think. My only concern is that if the authorities are already suspicious of you, and find no password vaults (or practically nothing in your password vault), they may just detain you until you reveal what you haven't disclosed to them. There's clearly a technical solution to the problem…

Definitely not great. It would create much more suspicion to have 1Password installed and not to have any data on it. Just uninstall 1Password before travel and re install it back after customs. Travel mode is a way worse solution.

The article says you can choose which vaults to have available in Travel Mode. So you could just leave some vaults you don't care about in there.

Re: 1Password Travel Mode: Protect your data when crossing borders

#294
post #116

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you honestly think customs agents care whether you'll get fired or not? US immigrations will permanently sever families that have been together for years or even decades with utter disregard for the emotional trauma they're inflicting. Your job matters exactly fuck-all to a CPB agent.

It completely depends if you are white or not. If you are white, and speak politely, the agent will care deeply about your concerns, including potential firing as an example. If you are not white, and especially if you appear black, Latino or Arab, then your comment will definitely hold true.

[citation needed]

Re: 1Password Travel Mode: Protect your data when crossing borders

#295
post #47

This is a nice feature, but ultimately if you are concerned with border agents requiring a phone search then you should just backup and install a fresh OS before traveling, then restore when you get back. Log into the minimal number of apps after you've entered the destination country, and optionally delete/logout of said apps prior to return travel if the return border crossing is also a concern. Admittedly if you u…

Can't they order you to sign into iCloud or equivalent and then just sync whatever they want, photos, texts, emails, apps (and then order you to sign into those apps like Facebook, Whatsapp, Gmail)? Bottom line is they can get you AND everything you have access to. And it you try to circumvent it by i.e. temporarily encrypting everything for 24hr boom you just committed a felony. This is my understanding at least.

[deleted]

Re: 1Password Travel Mode: Protect your data when crossing borders

#297

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ill tell the TSA no if you buy me a new laptop/phone when it happens.

good luck with that.

He can tell them whatever he wants. Doesn't mean they will care.

Re: 1Password Travel Mode: Protect your data when crossing borders

#298

One other way: change your password to a temporary one, give it to a trusted friend who changes it. You don't know the password, you can tell the truth to the border agent. Once you're out of their hands, ask for it back and change it again. Even if the friend is in the US, they cannot compell her/him to release it easily, US laws apply. There must be a way to also encrypt the new temporary password with 2 keys so th…

I don't see how any of these solutions help. At the US border agents routinely ask you to log into your email account and search your emails. If you refuse to comply it is much more likely they will not let you into the country.

So they don't just search your laptop they try and search online accounts also.

Re: 1Password Travel Mode: Protect your data when crossing borders

#299
post #211

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yup. The correct solution is to stop traveling to the US. Stop sending your employees to the US as well. If the rest of the world starts insisting that US companies always come to them because of how US border agents act, that shit will bubble up to the lobbyists real fast.

Bingo. Why would anyone want to go through that on their vacation? Unless you enjoy that sort of thing, go somewhere pleasant instead. (And if you enjoy that sort of thing, there are far easier ways...) I say this as a US citizen who will be sad if it comes to pass, but this bullshit won't stop unless the rest of the world refuses to put up with it. Your average US citizen doesn't travel internationally (only about 1…

Put up with what? I go through Houston Customs almost every month and they rarely search anyone. It's like a river of people walking right out the airport doors after a cursory glance at the customs declaration. I have never once seen a person with an open laptop in the search areas. That doesn't mean it doesn't happen but good grief, what's the actual percentage? I am willing to bet a minuscule percentage gets their devices searched.

Re: 1Password Travel Mode: Protect your data when crossing borders

#300
post #258

Earlier quoted context omitted.

From what I understand, it removes everything but ones marked as safe therefore you're not hiding anything. It's like moving your private files from a device before travelling, you're not hiding anything you just didn't bring it.

So how does the whole "show us Facebook" thing work then? They're interested in your Facebook bits stored on the internet, not the bits on your device.

Right. And there is absolutely no legal justification for requesting you go fetch those bits from a data center hundreds of miles away and show them to the CBP employee.

However, they are hoping that people don't know that and do it anyway, even though they don't have to. Also, a lot of CBP employees probably don't understand that distinction anyway. It feels like it's all "on the phone".

Of course that distinction between data in your possession on your device and data that's hundreds or thousands of miles away might not matter if enough precedent accumulates to support forcing people to go fetch things when they're at the border. So we need to stand up for freedom from government intrusion now!

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