An Appeals Court panel has ruled that federal agents can legally search through travelers’ cell phones without reasonable suspicion, probable cause, or a warrant when they cross an international border.
Well that’s convenient, now they don’t have to do it illegally anymore.
At least I’ll know which of my three phones to keep in pocket (I’ve got a Pixel 9a running GrapheneOS, iPhone 13 and Microsoft Lumia 435 Dual SIM).
Hand over the Lumia and border patrol will be “wtf is this”
I thought I was being original picking Nyan Cat as my profile picture for this platform.
Oh well, we’re siblings now I guess. :D
Which laws are we supposed to obey nowadays? It’s all very confusing.
You also have to provide all your social media handles when applying for a visa. Even a tourist visa so they can check if you ever posted anything negative about the US or it’s leader.
What if we all start giving them the same handles?
Just give them a second facebook account filled with thousands of images of MLP porn.
Or a youtube channel with dozens of variations of the “Most annoying sound” scene from Dumb and Dumber with the screeching repeated for hours and hours.
MLP?
my little pony
I am sparticus@lemmy.bs
Is it a requirement to be on social media, to enter the us?
Leave your phone at home, back up all the important data you need into a server. Keep all important information and documents you need for the trip printed on a paper.
Go through border without a phone, buy new phone and SIM abroad to avoid roaming. Access/download your important info through the internet using the hotel’s wifi.
After the trip you can bring the phone home and it will only contain some holiday photos.
Don’t buy the phone anywhere near an embassy or airport. Pay cash. Don’t give your name or ID. Reinstall the OS immediately after taking it out of the box. Setup FDE with a strong passphrase. Don’t use biometrics.
Create even more waste every time you travel
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Very telling that USians are being Berlined and the reactions here are pretty mild. At least in Berlin they had communism inside. In the US is just a hellscape of late stage capitalism.
How hard is it to eject the SD card?
In a modern phone?
Sounds like a you problem.
Just today I wondered how long it is till americans
will need a VPN to watch YouTubeWhy would America (US, rather) ever want to restrict their citizen’s access to one of their primary propaganda drivers? If you’re in America, it’s already necessary to avoid youtube directly and access it via frontends like invidious if you want even slightly decent privacy and to try to avoid being sucked into youtube’s personally tailored algorithm. Though you may at some point need a VPN in order to access those (the frontends) if they aren’t already outlawed. I can definitely see the US banning youtube alternatives like peertube instances, further restricting any kind of oppositional content on youtube itself, and enforcing strict identity requirements to access things on the internet, but they aren’t ever going to make it difficult to access their state-approved slop troughs.
Because current administration copies what Russia is doing (I want to add China to the list, but have no experience, so for now omitted), and is now also run by a moron. That’s how low I think of them governments of both countries
What you’re missing is that youtube only shows what the US govt allows so there will never be a reason for the Us govt to block it. Google is to US as Gazprom is to Russia.
Seems like you need to travel with a burner phone now?
It’s not enough. We leave such a large digital footprint anymore, it’s not hard to connect everything and everyone together. They almost certainly have some pretty crazy technology that we don’t even have access too as well.
The bigger thing here, is this is a supposed first world country using your personal information and communications to intimidate and threaten you. Heck to even imprison you. That’s third world country tinpot dictator-like behaviour.
As someone who lives in a third world country, no third world country gives a damn about what’s on your phone. The police only care if you make a scene in public (or publicly post something spicy) and somebody complains.
By what measure is the US a first-world country?
Absolutely zero, anymore.
This is the shit i warned if Trump got elected in 2024 = basically the end of the democratic experiment. We brought this shit onto ourselves.
So… traveling outside the US and think you want back in… break out that old phone and keep it effing clean for travel. Actual phone goes in to safety deposit box.
The land of the free eh?
This was already the legal case. I’m confused what changed. This was okay legally for international travel anyway because borders are not considered protect it by the Constitution. I’m so confused. What’s different?
It was gray. The used the concept of being outside of US jurisdiction to skirt the laws on illegal search and seizure. Somebody pushed back on this recently, so they made it less gray.
People are just clueing in to how bad it’s actually been since 9/11.
A lot of suggestions in here but the real way to avoid this to do an encrypted backup of your entire phone to the cloud, wipe it, then log into whatever service you used to store it and import it after you’re safely in another country. They might keep you for a while because having an empty phone is suspicious, but they won’t get anything.
Reminds me if when Jacob Applebaum crossed with a laptop with no disk and they were very confused with what to do lol
Best way to avoid it is not travelling to/from the US.
Sure, but I’d like to be able to leave.
I have a question… there’s data on my phone and other devices that are protected under an active NDA. I am legally obligated to prevent disclosure of that information.
So… what happens then?
An NDA is just a contract, an actual law always trumps it.
> agree to do corporate espionage for company A
> get a job at company B, sign an NDA, put all their sensitive data on your phone
> have your buddy get a job with the CBP
> cross the border, “oops, I guess he gets to look at my phone, what can I do?”
> buddy doesn’t have an NDA so he tells company A what he saw then splits the money with you
> profit??
No, you’re not. Encrypt the device and turn it off.
And if they ask you to unlock it, you just say no and it all goes fine?
They hold you for a few hours and make a bunch of vacant and vague threats.
Then, yes, they release you.
A few court rulings from now and I won’t be surprised if they’ll start indefinitely detaining people or using “enhanced interrogation”
It depends if you’re a citizen or not.
That’s merely how is starts.
Nothing new, I thought they can read your phone going through an airport.
https://mendozafirm.com/faqs/can-cbp-search-your-phone/
You’re correct with circumstances. Prior to now, they used loopholes and lies that could be challenged.
They’re now just openly allowed to without warrant or even suspicion.
And you can shut it down and refuse, but they can detain you, for quite some time if they want and they will likely confiscate your phone for untold periods of time.
You should also be aware that “border” extends to inbound/outbound international flights. So you could be subject to a border search at an airport that’s nowhere near any physical border.
Not if it’s off and encrypted with a strong passphrase
