Protecting Electronic Devices and Stored Information from Customs Searches
#46
Join Date: Jul 1999
Programs: QF WP, AA EXP
Posts: 3,519
While it's unknown how it would apply to this particular type of situation, courts have ruled that you can be compelled via order to unlock your phone via bio-metrics. However, if it's only passcode protected, it falls under the 5th and you can refuse to provide it.
#47
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: TYO
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https://www.sott.net/article/342740-...her-should-you
#48
Suspended
Join Date: Jul 2001
Location: Watchlisted by the prejudiced, en route to purgatory
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Posts: 102,103
SIM replacement -- and perhaps better yet with a number change -- may be something to do if the device was or may be removed from your custody while dealing with government agencies. Phone replacement/substitution is also something to consider.
#49
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Mar 2002
Location: An NPR mind living in a Fox News world
Posts: 14,148
My old flip phone allows you to store data in either the phone's memory or on the SIM. It's a good idea to remove all data (pictures, call logs, contacts, etc) from the phone and only store it on the SIM you use overseas. Then, while airborne back to the U.S., swap out the SIM with the data on it with another SIM that either has nothing on it or is inactive. I use my old T-Mobile SIM that became deactivated when I bought a smartphone. The phone boots up normally but there is absolutely nothing in it.
#50
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: Austin, Texas
Programs: Airline nobody. Sad!
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Interestingly, I was approved for NEXUS a couple of years later, so even if they kept a copy of all of my information, there clearly wasn't anything so bad (in the phone contents if kept, or in whatever file CBSA has on me) as to prevent me from NEXUS approval. To be fair, I'm a pretty boring person with a very mundane job and a voluminous but mostly uninteresting travel history .
#52
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Mar 2002
Location: An NPR mind living in a Fox News world
Posts: 14,148
Good point. Every non-U.S. airport I've ever transited always has at least one mobile phone booth right outside customs. You can simply rent a phone in-country and turn it in when you leave. I've never done it but I might try it out.
#53
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: QDF
Programs: AA EXP (2MM), Marriott Tit
Posts: 1,032
I leave my personal iPhone at home and bring an unlocked GSM flip phone. I use a local prepaid SIM card for calling home. Like the NASA guy, I also travel with USG-supplied IT equipment. Everything except the operating system and Microsoft Office is in our encrypted cloud. I asked the question of our CIO the other day and they told us to not divulge passwords to our government IT. Instead, we were told to call the general counsel's office from the airport and seek advice.
#55
Join Date: Jan 2009
Programs: Hilton Diamond, IHG Spire Ambassador, Radisson Gold, Hyatt Discoverist
Posts: 3,617
http://www.cnn.com/2017/02/13/us/cit...t-border-trnd/
I don't know about everyone else but having someone look thru personal electronics (computer/phone) feels worse than someone searching thru your home... I mean, all of our personal/financial details, including pictures, personal/work emails & files, social media, instant messages, phone logs, the whole 9 yards.
Our phones these days are basically encrypted and backed up to the cloud.. so if you get a new phone, mostly everything gets synched to it. However, after they force you to give up password to your phone, and take it away for 30 minutes, EVERYTHING gets copied off.
In light of this, does anyone think of possibly pre-planning what they would do to safeguard from this sort of intrusion into our personal lives?
Maybe we can start a list of the "practical" things we can protect ourselves with... Among the things I can think of...
Me: US Citizen w/ Global Entry, Precheck, ABTC Card, int'l travel every 4-6 weeks (no Europe/middle east). I've earned my SSSS stripes coming back from Japan/Singapore/China trip so as I'm on the watchlist now, somewhat paranoid, lol.
I don't know about everyone else but having someone look thru personal electronics (computer/phone) feels worse than someone searching thru your home... I mean, all of our personal/financial details, including pictures, personal/work emails & files, social media, instant messages, phone logs, the whole 9 yards.
Our phones these days are basically encrypted and backed up to the cloud.. so if you get a new phone, mostly everything gets synched to it. However, after they force you to give up password to your phone, and take it away for 30 minutes, EVERYTHING gets copied off.
In light of this, does anyone think of possibly pre-planning what they would do to safeguard from this sort of intrusion into our personal lives?
Maybe we can start a list of the "practical" things we can protect ourselves with... Among the things I can think of...
- Disconnect / uninstalling social media (fb/ig/twitter/linkedin/etc)
- Disconnect / uninstalling work related stuffs (gmail)
- Disconnect / uninstall / limit personal media (I would think that its fine to search thru 2-3 weeks worth of photos, but NOT cool to look thru 2-3 years)
- Dropbox (Unsynch folders, uninstall from phone/notebook computer)
Me: US Citizen w/ Global Entry, Precheck, ABTC Card, int'l travel every 4-6 weeks (no Europe/middle east). I've earned my SSSS stripes coming back from Japan/Singapore/China trip so as I'm on the watchlist now, somewhat paranoid, lol.
Consider what you would do if asked that. Lie to the officer? That's a felony.
#56
Join Date: Nov 2010
Posts: 579
If I were a CBP officer, before any search of a passenger's phone, I would ask the passenger "Have you deleted any data, apps, emails, or photos from this phone in anticipation of your arrival in the USA?"
Consider what you would do if asked that. Lie to the officer? That's a felony.
Consider what you would do if asked that. Lie to the officer? That's a felony.
One question that I have had--if one has a used phone, is one responsible for the contents of the phone that were "deleted" by the previous owner/seller but may still be retrievable with the right software and devices? In theory, selling a phone deletes the information, but in practice, it seems that many only use factory restore settings which does not make the data irretrievable.
#57
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: WAS
Programs: enjoyed being warm spit for a few years on CO/UA but now nothing :(
Posts: 2,494
If I were a CBP officer, before any search of a passenger's phone, I would ask the passenger "Have you deleted any data, apps, emails, or photos from this phone in anticipation of your arrival in the USA?"
Consider what you would do if asked that. Lie to the officer? That's a felony.
Consider what you would do if asked that. Lie to the officer? That's a felony.
Of course, if it's gotten that far the passenger has already lost....
#58
Join Date: Jan 2009
Programs: Hilton Diamond, IHG Spire Ambassador, Radisson Gold, Hyatt Discoverist
Posts: 3,617
Or CBP could ask "Have you deleted anything from the phone in the last week?" There are a bunch of ways to ask it, and it can put a deleter in a real bind, and raise the 'ole blood pressure if you have to choose between lying or admitting what you've deleted.
I would suggest, as I always do, that you just don't answer any questions in secondary inspection if you're American, including questions about the contents of your electronic devices.
I would suggest, as I always do, that you just don't answer any questions in secondary inspection if you're American, including questions about the contents of your electronic devices.
#59
Join Date: May 2014
Location: FRA
Posts: 20
Even if someone deletes something from a phone in anticipation of arrival, I don't think that it's really deleted. My understanding is that phones use flash memory, so deleted things can still be retrieved from a phone.
One question that I have had--if one has a used phone, is one responsible for the contents of the phone that were "deleted" by the previous owner/seller but may still be retrievable with the right software and devices? In theory, selling a phone deletes the information, but in practice, it seems that many only use factory restore settings which does not make the data irretrievable.
One question that I have had--if one has a used phone, is one responsible for the contents of the phone that were "deleted" by the previous owner/seller but may still be retrievable with the right software and devices? In theory, selling a phone deletes the information, but in practice, it seems that many only use factory restore settings which does not make the data irretrievable.
#60
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: Austin, Texas
Programs: Airline nobody. Sad!
Posts: 26,062
It's one thing for people to talk tough, but for many (not all) a full-out tinfoil hat approach is less than desirable.
Last edited by TheBOSman; Feb 17, 2017 at 1:07 pm