Digital Privacy at the U.S Border: A New How-To Guide from EFF
eff.org
eff.org
It's worth pointing out that this isn't all Trump related, things have been heading in this direction for a while now. Trump has made the border crossing into the Stanford Prison Experiment, though.
I'm not too concerned about my personal data at the moment. I interact with many non-citizens on a regular basis, and I am concerned that a misinterpreted Facebook message or email could land them in hot water.
It's not just ourselves we're protecting, but also our friends, family and colleagues.
The likelihood of ICE asking me to log into my devices and confiscating them is quite low. The inconvenience of using burner devices is quite high.
This of course assumes that the government is unwilling or unable to defeat your encryption.
I don't own a personal cell phone. I don't own a personal laptop (yeah, I have this weird computer box that sits under my desk, go figure). If I were traveling for personal reasons, as a tourist, I would have no digital devices with me (beyond a cheap digital camera). What we are saying here is that I would possibly be subjected to extra scrutiny and possibly be denied entry to the US because I live simply.
My wife's flip phone with no data plan? Unusual, requires scrutiny, I guess.
Guess I'm not traveling to the US any time soon.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/travel/2017...
In addition, there IS a law on the books that says that you must give reasonable assistance to CBP in conducting a search, or be subject to a fine and jail time. CBP construes this to mean that you must give them the encryption passwords to your devices. EFF and others disagree, but the matter has never been decided in court, in part because CBP drops the cases if they are challenged.
Although I personally would rather visit one of the big national parks in Africa.
But since that seems a bit dangerous right now, could you recommend some interesting national parks in EU-land?
[1]https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2014/05/photos-of-an-nsa...
While it's unofficial CBP policy to harass in any way possible--the more petty the better--citizens who refuse to answer questions, I have not yet experienced a device search, so this is just speculation; CBP might just get your checked bag(s) and demand your assistance while you're in the main secondary detention area.
"Depending on your priorities, a Chromebook can make a particularly good travel laptop when traveling somewhere with decent Internet access. ... Chromebooks minimize the data stored on the device itself and are particularly easy to clear or reset."
I don't mean to be churlish but this advice is pretty weak sauce. I mean, I understand why they don't want necessarily want to admit the truth, that if you're a foreign national and you don't comply things will get nasty and you'll almost certainly be deported.
However, that sadly seems to be the truth of Trump's TSA, and if the truth stinks, don't sugar coat it.
>Border agents cannot deny a U.S. citizen admission to the country. However, if a foreign visitor declines, an agent may deny them entry. If a lawful permanent resident declines, agents may raise complicated questions about their continued status as a resident.
1) comply - possibly incriminating yourself, endangering your security and anyone you have contact with
or
2) refuse, get arrested, harassed, deported and probably placed on some kind of watch list as a known troublemaker
Which should you choose?
The choice is just whether that privacy is more important than getting into America to you.
The agency that people are dealing with in this case is CBP, not TSA. TSA has no border search authority.
We put out the first version of this guide in 2011. So far we don't know for sure if border searches have gotten more prevalent or more intrusive under the Trump administration. It's very possible, but may not be clear from statistics for about a year. They've definitely been getting more press and public attention.