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Comment by itake | Hacker News Reader

Just out of curiosity, like what country would you not have to worry about this in?

The US is quite transparent about these rules, and certainly other countries are not necessarily searching peoples phones as publicly

But anytime I transit a country USA or any thing I fully expect to have zero rights

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European citizens can travel in the EU without even noticing that they are crossing borders most of the time. I once got lost on my bike and accidentally ended up in France for example.

I drove a friend to an airport in Switzerland, got lost on my way home, and accidentally visited both France and Germany.

And if you're unpopular enough, they can also abuse arrest warrants for political persecution from another country. Case in point, captain Tommy Olsen from Norway, who Greek authorities accused of "human trafficking" for helping boat refugees.

They've deliberately made it very easy to request arrests across borders, so it isn't all rosy. One of the reasons it really sucks for everyone when an EU country starts slipping towards fascism.

>But anytime I transit a country USA or any thing I fully expect to have zero rights

That is so sad, man. How is this normal for you?

Its just how the world works. Countries protect their own citizens, even from each other.

Schengen, Nordics, Japan, Canada, in that order.

Trump’s America: when confronted with negative traits of your country, always assume your country is the lesser of all evils.

Australia has stricter screening for fruit than for people.

don't bring anything organic to Australia unless it's been commercially processed, and even then show it to the border officers so they can make the call. You don't get penalized for showing them something not allowed, you just can't bring it into the country, and they throw it in the bin for incineration. Penalties start when you try to sneak something in anyway.

Australia has very one sided arrangements with some other places. It is far easier for Aussies to get into the UK than vice versa, for example. They get in visa free, but UK citizens need a visa.

I have an Australian acquaintance who got into trouble recently since he was born in Scotland but moved to Australia as a child. He is about as Aussie sounding as they come and went to school there, but after working in the UK for a year or two, Australian immigration gave him grief when he decided to return.

Australians actually comprise one of the biggest groups of illegal migrants in the UK, but they are more rarely commented on as they are much less visible than certain other groups. Australians with a parent or grandparent from the UK qualify, whereas those who don't, don't. But the ones who don't are rarely deported, and can't be easily distinguished in many cases.

> I have an Australian acquaintance who got into trouble recently since he was born in Scotland but moved to Australia as a child.

He's not a member of ACDC is he? ;)

I think many in the UK don't really regard Aussies or Kiwis as "immigrants" at all. I have various red faced in-laws with political views that are, shall we say, to the right of centre and they see Aussies as just Brits with funny accents.

Haha, no he'd wish! He's into that type of music!

But yes, if you had someone whose UK ancestor back in the 19th century, or descended from Italians, Greeks or Lebanese, with an Aussie accent, then you're unlikely to be a suspect.

An Australian sniffer dog was very interested in my rucksack when I visited Australia a while back. Apparently it was due to previously having kept some bananas in there. They really don't mess about with finding and fining people importing anything that could germinate. They are very friendly though and one officer even washed some seashells that my wife found in New Zealand.

Schengen (and Nordic countries) logs your biometrics and can search your electronics [0] when you enter the region.

Canada searches electronics [1].

Japan Article 105 (Inspection, Search, and Seizure) of the Japan Customs Act (Kanzeihō) allows electronic searches.

It’s strange how much criticism America gets, yet when people are confronted with problems in their own countries, the response is often, “Donald Trump bad. American stupid for voting for him.” The U.S. was surveilling phones long before Trump became president, and the practice certainly continued under Biden.

[0] - https://www.reddit.com/r/germany/comments/13xzqyw/can_german...

[1] - https://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/travel-voyage/edd-ean-eng.html

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