An Appeals Court panel has ruled that federal agents can legally search through travelers’ cell phones without reasonable suspicion, probable cause, or a warrant when they cross an international border.
So… traveling outside the US and think you want back in… break out that old phone and keep it effing clean for travel. Actual phone goes in to safety deposit box.
The land of the free eh?
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Well that’s convenient, now they don’t have to do it illegally anymore.
So anywhere within 100 miles of a border or international airport.
At least I’ll know which of my three phones to keep in pocket (I’ve got a Pixel 9a running GrapheneOS, iPhone 13 and Microsoft Lumia 435 Dual SIM).
Hand over the Lumia and border patrol will be “wtf is this”
I thought I was being original picking Nyan Cat as my profile picture for this platform.
Oh well, we’re siblings now I guess. :D
I don’t know if any phones have this, but on a PC you can set up multiple partitions and have the password you entered determine which is logged into on boot. Then if the ICE brownshirts demand to see your sick memes, you can show them a boring install with some basic apps, instead of the install where you’re informing the denizens of the interwebs that Trump raped kids and the entire GOP is covering it up.
The brown shirts just clone the whole drive and hand it to the egg heads.
I’m hoping the brownshirts aren’t smart enough for that, but you may be right.
Android has this: every OEM calls it something different, but it’s called something similar to second space. iPhones don’t have it at all unfortunately.
Remember to always turn off your phone before getting off the plane.
With protesting and dissent nearing illegality, It’s no longer safe to have password managers, browser history or social media on your phone. (at borders for now)
I see a lot of people saying just shut it off. They will turn it on, tell you to unlock it, you refuse, they’ll detain you, try tools to bypass, confiscate it (you need to make sure you get a receipt) and they’ll let you out without it at some point. Even citizens can get detained for periods greater than 24 hours.
If you express any public dissent toward the administration, you should consider traveling with a dumb phone or a burner, not connected to your email/social online services/password systems.
With protesting and dissent nearing illegality, It’s no longer safe to have password managers, browser history or social media on your phone. (at borders for now)
I had not considered the risk of having a password manager on my phone and being cohered to unlock it. There’s nothing dissentious there to find so I’m not concerned about that (don’t infer from that that I think it’s acceptable that they can look, I do not). But what’s to stop them from stealing financial login info while they’re at it? That’s the worry that just triggered.
If you express any public dissent toward the administration, you should consider traveling with a dumb phone or a burner, not connected to your email/social online services/password systems.
Traveling with a dumb phone isn’t always viable. A recent example I can think of is I had to scan a QR code and fill out a customs form on a website. There was not a paper based alternative. But a burner works.
Yeah, that and actually taking decent pictures. If you just need a function, you can get non-flagship Android burners really cheap, or just keep a previous phone, wipe it, and travel with an eSIM.
My primary concern isn’t so much what i’m saying now, but what they think about it later if we keep heading toward darker times.
Yeah, that and actually taking decent pictures.
Cheap phone + nice camera is another option. But with the downside of more to pack and carry around.
My primary concern isn’t so much what i’m saying now, but what they think about it later if we keep heading toward darker times.
… yeah that feels entirely possible. Valid concern.
In the early 00’s there were a few nice cameras with a 3x zoom that would fit in an altoids tin.
I think most of the current crop of micro cameras are toys :(
Just create a fake profile with pictures of diseased cocks.
Border security very likely uses israeli tech to download your whole drive. Even if they don’t I assume they would at least hold you for questioning if you did make such a profile
Cellebrite. They don’t even need to look through the phone if you unlock it for them they’ll enable whatever settings they have to to download the whole thing. From there they build out associations based on your contacts, apps, social media, etc. Essentially they do what palantir does but a lot more direct, and skips the whole data brokers part.
No add trackers 🤣
They can already snatch your phone beat you the fuck up and slam your bloodied face into the face recognition until they’ve got your device unlocked. I mean whatcha gonna do when they’re peeling your fingernaips apart and screaming at you to blurt all your secrets. No shitty amendment gonna protect your fragile meat ass.
Don’t use biometrics. Use a duress password.
Cryptography works.
They can have the duress pin.
And then get arrested. Land of freedom baby.
And that’s why I no longer go there.
Thats already getting ppl arrested
He was allowed through the border, is currently living a normal life outside of jail, and has so far not been convicted since years ago.
Isn’t it still working through federal court? That’s not a trivial thing.
Sure, but he’s not locked in a cage right now.
And I’m actually optimistic. Currently we have strong legal precedent that the government cannot force you to reveal your encryption credentials. We do not have precedent about the use of duress passwords. It could happen that the courts rule, as before, that they can’t prove the person didn’t accidentally type the duress password by mistake.
It would be great to see a win legalizing the use of duress passwords.
I can’t imagine being optimistic about anything in the US.
It can also happen that they make new precedent that compels people to disclose passwords because it’s more useful to their surveillance and border control regime.
Nothing is impossible, but that’s highly unlikely. We have loads of prescient against this, nationally and constitutionally.
My personal life is pretty damn boring, but regardless, every time I fly (even domestic) I wipe my phone beforehand and only keep emergency contacts.
Just budget for a cheap ass phone for when you cross the border and don’t take your actual device with you. Or if you do take it with you when you cross, make sure that it is off during the entire transit.
make sure that it is off during the entire transit
I’ve never had them insist that I can recall, but I do remember reading, I believe in the TSA docs, that any devices are supposed to be powered on and able to be demonstrated to be working or something to that effect … I guess to make sure it’s not just a phone-shaped bomb or whatever.
They can boot it to the password prompt and shut it down again.
Makes a little more sense when you consider Israel’s pager bombs.
and when you consider the surveillance state. security from “terrorists” is a great excuse, up there with protecting the children.
No it doesn’t. Those were fully functioning devices with a maliciously modified battery with zero extra footprint.
Even if they have you powered on, the fact that it’s in the before-first unlock state means that the file-based encryption still holds and it cannot be unlocked with biometrics.
This is true, but depending on the phone model and processor type, there are still exploits that can bypass bfu state
Only time I’ve ever had an “electronic” device checked like that was at an airport in Europe about 15 years ago (if memory serves me right, I think it was CDG in France). I had a DSLR with a couple extra lenses and they asked me to turn on the camera and take a picture with each lense attached. They also asked to view through the viewfinder with each.
They just ask you tonpiwer it on. Did it for a laptop once.
I held on to my old phone when I last upgraded just for this reason. If I ever need to travel internationally in the next few years, that’s the one that’s coming with me. And as much as I’d like to bring my steam deck for travel entertainment, that’s staying home too.
Registration walled. Anyone happen to have the full text?
Archive link: https://archive.is/mEIkV
Anyway I prefer to suck at my ellbow before visiting the US.
Turn it off before crossing. They may ask you to power it on, which you may comply with. In my experience, biometrics don’t work after a fresh boot and the device password must be entered before biometric unlocking works.
That prevents them from getting into your phone, but probably prevents you from getting across the border too.
Encrypt all your real devices and use a dummy phone to cross. If you get questioned, give lawyer contact info and say nothing else
The lawyer is for you, not them. Just prepare to say “no thank you. Am I free to go now?” for a few hours. Don’t say anything else.
Might sound extreme, but unironically everyone should do this
No. Even the guy who used the duress password to wipe his device was allowed through the border.
They will use psychological pressure and make you wait hours, but they will let you through, even if you stand your ground.
