It's not a technical problem.
It is my understanding that if you are American and are trying to enter, they can't stop you from coming in indefinitely, is that not true?
1. end-to-end encrypt a cloud backup
2. Securely wipe the phone.
3. Install OS in travel mode, which means no local data is forced and at best kept until restarting phone. Hardware enforcement of ban of updates including firmware and OS, unless system wiped. With a visual unique easily recognizable “code” to tell if the current “travel mode” was over rewritten; for example, unique consistent computer generated recognizable human face is shown on reboot until being reformatted and is different every time phone is reformatted.
4. On reaching known safe point, phone wiped, OS installed in non-travel mode, backup installed.
If there’s no data or way to root the phone, it’s meaningless effort and would no longer even be done at the border; they might find another route to get data, but current issue would no longer be a viable route.
— to be fair, I did mention multiple-logins, but to me that was intended to mean additional features/options, not a replacement for the core issue of forced access to devices/data at predictable chock points like border crossings.
No need for the content, they just need to make sure the activity score is higher than the one on your phone. It's not illegal not to have you real phone, but why haven't you? Do you have anything to hide? And they will make you life annoying enough, making you miss flights, waste your time, cost you money and opportunities, until most of the population comply.
It's a cat and mouse game, where you are trying to oppose technical solutions to people being simply abusive, which doesn't work on the long run, because the problem is that you are being ruled by the mob.
It's funny, because if were it be happening in China or in Russia, everybody would be loosing their mind, saying how those dictatorships are abusive. Then they would note how the Russian and Chinese don't seem to notice they are being abused and defend their country.
They can't prevent Americans from entering the country.
But they can, and will if the trend of abuses continue, make you loose your flight, make you waste time, opportunity, and money. And put you in a list so that they do that every time your travel.
They don't have to literally prevent you from entering your own country in order to make refusal to cooperate extremely unpleasant for you. Not to mention they can do this every time going forward and they can do this to other people in your group as well. Good luck proving this is harassment and not due dilligence.
[0] https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/border-patrol-says-it-s...
Again, it's not a technical problem. Abusive people are abusive.
Law enforcers are not good people because of their title, society shape them in who their are and how they behave. Currently, in the US, they are not shaped to be helping citizen.
Is it? They have almost infinite time and money, they can follow false leads and accusations almost indefinitely, and whoever makes that decision will never be met with any kind of consequence for making the wrong call. However sitting in a cell somewhere while they wait for you to give them information that doesn't exist definitely sounds like your problem not theirs.
The vast majority of border crossings across the world don't involve any questions about phones anyway, but if you are at the stage where they do the characteristics of your phone or lack thereof can piss off the person who determines whether you are allowed to enter. And if you are at that stage entry denial will probably not be solely based on your phone or lack thereof because there was probably a reason they starting asking about it in the first place.
These aren't purely hypothetical scenarios but real life examples of things that happened to people I know.
In the vast majority of cases, it will not be a factor, nor will anything else because you'll just go through the border without arousing suspicion or any searches.
Canada is like this. I traveled to Canada with my father a few years ago. When we crossed the border I was driving; they asked both of us if we had any guns in the car. The answer was no and they were obviously free to search the car if they doubted that. But then they started grilling my dad about which guns he had at home, 500 miles away. How many shotguns do you own? What models? How many rifles do you own? Which models? How long have you owned these guns? What do you use them for?
They didn't ask me any of that though. I was 35, I could have owned as many guns as he did, but I didn't and they seemed to know that already. I assume their system had access to some sort of database that flagged my father as a probable gun owner but not me. And the young border guard seemed intent to ask him invasive and utterly irrelevant questions to 'punish' him for this. I think the border guard was acting on individual initiative, because a few weeks later we entered Canada a second time and the border guards didn't even ask if we had guns in the car.
Statistically you don't have to worry about this at all.
If you have a phone and refuse to grant access, that's being evasive. If you have 2 phones and try to play it like you have 1 phone, that's being evasive. If you have a secret under-duress boot partition for your laptop, that's being evasive.
Having a set of travel electronics is not evasive. That's just how it is in today's big brother world.
<detained and search, strip-search invasively, cuffed, shackled, tossed in cell, taken to hospitals against my will (for 16 hours) where they lied to doctors. Warrant obtained (for external and 'internal' search). Taken (via prisoner van) to another hospital 60 miles away with more crooked doctor after first doctor refuses to go with the shenanigans. Finger printed, booked. Denied sleep and harassed every time you try to fall asleep. Forced to perform bodily functions in front of agents, who search what comes out. Eventually dumped at the border without apology -- hopefully if you have pets or children someone will take care of them because you're not entitled to a phone call or use of a phone in most circumstances.>
My true story as a US citizen re-entering America. Enjoy!
In any case, if the choice is between having a copy of the contents of my phone made, or being detained and cavity-searched, I'll take the detention and cavity search.
Obviously I would too, but if you haven't experienced this kind of detention I think you'll find people such as ourselves who would rather this than that are rare. And don't forget, once you're on the shit-list they will mark you on their computer and make you experience hell _for life_ everytime you enter the US. Ask me how I know. Ready to exercise some privacy today? Great, hope 30 years down the road when you want to take the grandkids to Cabo you're ready for the whole party to get the Pablo Escabar lock-up experience. Want to get quick lunch across the border? Hope you informed your boss you may not be back to work tomorrow.
I've effectively lost for life the ability most Americans have to have any expectation whatsoever they may be able to clear customs in a matter of hours. I have to plan to be in complete incommunicado from my family for 24 hours from the time I hit the border. I have to plan that most likely I'll be tossed in a cold cell, and perhaps get more Emergency Room bills after agents take me to doctors against my will. I have to prepare for the lawsuits that may come from any unpaid medical bills for medical service I never asked for and for which I was brought involuntarily (cuffed and shackled), which CBP officers have weaponized. I have to plan on never scheduling a flight back home the same day I enter the US, because most likely I'm going to miss it.
>Are all of those subject to a cavity search? If that were common, I'd think I'd heard of it by now.
Yes it's extremely common. Holy Cross Hospital in Nogalez, AZ has a steady stream of traffic bringing 'patients' in to be inspected in this manner and there are lawsuits for forceful penetration of women without a warrant as part of this practice as well. While the agents detained me they told me many many stories of others put through this treatment.