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Comment by ungerik | Hacker News Reader

The last time I entered Australia customs grabbed my iPhone, took a snapshot of the memory and logged into my Google Apps Account to find out if I have been working illegally there.

They asked if I was planning tax evasion because I took Google Doc notes in a tax-minimization and asset protection seminar.

They went through my private email conversations with family members and discussed the financial details of my family and who borrowed money from whom.

All with my consent of course. The other option would have been to fly back to Europe with the next plane available.

It's not always the evil Chinese hackers...

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I'm in Melbourne, Australia. I've emailed your complaint to Australian Customs with a copy to my local Member of Parliament (Congressperson).

Wow, seriously? That's insane. Are you an Australian citizen?

(I'm also somewhat surprised at the level of technical knowledge on display, I wouldn't honestly expect that where I live though I probably should I suppose.)

Downloading snapshots of iOS devices is standard around the world. No I am not Australian citizen, that was the problem.

Wow. I have to re-enter Australia in a month. How do you suggest avoiding this? Turning it off and putting it in my checked luggage (with a password) should work shouldn't it?

Passwords don't work, because they will ask you for the passwords (for all the devices they find in your luggage as soon as you get the special treatment). You don't have to tell it, but they also don't _have_ to let you in. Got the picture?

The best way to avoid getting singled out is to look like any other tourist with tourist clothes and a lot of luggage.

I made the mistake to mix tourist clothing with only a bag for my macbook for a short trip to Singapore while staying in Australia with a 3 month tourist/business visa.

Entering Australia with a tourist/business visa and without luggage looks suspicious. If you take a short trip to Singapore make sure you wear a business suit, or take a lot of luggage with you to look like a pissed of tourist. But nothing in between ;)

Option 2:

Don't bring your expensive electronics devices with you.

Instead of an iPhone, bring a cheapo dumbphone, a point-and-shoot camera, and a freshly-installed netbook, if you must.

Store what you need in the cloud and don't log into it with the netbook. If you don't want to put your data in the cloud, put it in a truecrypt volume file and name it something innocent. Uninstall Truecrypt until you're in country and can find a wifi hotspot.

I'll actually be an Australian resident (although not a citizen) returning from a visit to my home country, so maybe that changes the situation somewhat. Following your advice though, I'm guessing the main thing is to look as much as predictable as possible :)

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