Hacker News Reader

"I got on pickpocketed on my last vacation, so now I travel with an old backup phone instead"

This may feel like a good idea as a “gotcha” justification but it just doesn’t matter. It’s still extremely abnormal and you will stick out. The only way to protect yourself is by blending in, not sticking out.

I think it would work. It's plausible enough. It doesn't have to be the most common answer to be accepted.

Well but the point goes beyond “do they let you through.” All of this goes past the here and now. It’s about getting flagged in some system that causes you to get picked out 3 stops down the line when these odd occurrences add up to you not being trustworthy based on your profile history.

That kind of history is already being collected about people. That’s what you should be worried about when it comes to engineering some scheme that sounds clever.

i am familiar with a number of the security team personnel, so i can give you the inside perspective.

the reaction you provoke at a border crossing, or an LEO encounter is almost entirely based on what profile you fit.

the vehicle, the state/contents of the vehicle, what you say, even how you move, are being evaluated for consistency with a profile.

This reads so vague it does not add anything beyond what 2 minutes of common sense thinking can produce.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com