How to Protect Yourself From Phone Searches at the US Border

Privacy advocates and digital rights are largely preferred to approach a travel device from scratch, but they warn that the phone is very clean, very similar to the fireplace phone, can raise doubts.

“You must” seed “the device. Use the phone for one day or even for a few hours. It cannot be so Cleansing Cleans. “My recommendation is to make the Finsta to travel, because if they ask what your profile is, how will you say,” I do not use any social media? Many people have a few accounts anyway. One of the projections, one healthy – add one travel. “

CYR, from Amnesty International, also indicates that the real fireplace phone will be a “stupid” phone, which will not be able to operate encrypted contact applications. “The feature we all have with smartphones is that you can communicate in an encrypted way,” says Sir. “People should be aware that any unsafe encountered connection is less secure than a phone call or a message on an application like a sign.”

Although the travel device does not need to use a prepaid SIM card that has been purchased in cash, your regular phone number should not participate, as this number is likely to be linked to most of your main digital accounts if not. Buy a SIM card for your trip or use the device only on Wi-Fi.

Traveling with your primary phone

Another approach that you can follow to protect your device during the border crossings is to modify your primary smartphone before traveling. This includes removing and storing old images and messages in another place, cleaning non -basic applications, either removing some applications completely or logging out with your main accounts and logging in with travel accounts.

Mohamed Mascati, director of the Digital Security Assistance line now says that people should consider this type of cleaning before traveling. “I will look at my device and see the applications I need,” he says. “If I don’t need to apply, I just removed him.”

Masatati adds that he suggests that people remember in particular removing dating applications and anything related to LGBTQI societies, especially if they consider themselves at greater risk to face the search for the device. Generally, this approach is only safe if you are particularly diligent to remove every application that may expose you to risk.

You can use your own phone as a travel phone by reserves, wiping it, building a travel device with the applications you really need while traveling, going on your trip, then restoring the backup when you reach the home. This approach is implemented but takes a long time, and creates more opportunities for operational security errors or what is known as “OPSEC”. If you try to delete all your unwanted old applications, but you miss one, you may end up exposing the old social media account or another historical service that you forgot the data in it. Correspondence applications can easily have search archives for years and can save images and files automatically without realizing it. And if you make a backup copy of all your data to the cloud and take it from your device, but you are still registered to the cloud account that is based on entering other services (such as the main Google or Apple account), you may be asked to produce data from the cloud for inspection.