tl;dr: only applies to NY Eastern District, and likely only US citizen can enjoy
Always turn your phone off before crossing international borders. And use a >20 char boot passphrase.
aren’t they going to ask you to unlock it, or do as they do in China and run a quick scan using their special software?
They can ask. And you can say no. Some countries might torture you, but that’s honestly low risk. And for that we have duress passwords.
Special scanning software can’t defeat strong encryption with a strong passphrase
or do as they do in China and run a quick scan using their special software?
Can I get a source for this?
First time I heard about it was from this youtube channe…called “all things secured” but I don’t remember the video , he said police officers stopped him and plugged a USB C on his phone, after a few moments they let him go…
this article discuses the same situation but I’m sure you can find other sources
You don’t have rights when crossing a border. If you’re not willing to have customs rooting through your data, delete it and restore from backup after you arrive.
The problem is that this also applies within a radius around a “port of entry”. So everybody that lives within about 100 miles of the coast, an airport, or a rail line that crosses a border — which is probably about 80+% of any country.
If we’re talking about US citizens entering the US, AFAIK they have no right to deny you entry.
They will detain you. I know the US procedure because i was instructed as i worked there as a representative for an overseas company in Europe.
If you’re a national of the US they will detain you and hold you in detention to ask you questions. During this time your phone will either be cloned or confiscated to be decrypted at a later date. You will be released after a few hours. They will likely not bruteforce it, but rather attempt to use security flaws present in your device/firmware. They will do the same to your laptop.
If you’re not a national of the US, you will be denied entry and flown back to where you came from. This is common practice in a lot of western countries.
What you should do is not carry sensitive information across borders, by using a cloud service to sync at your destination or use hidden encrypted containers in your device. Unless you’re involved in terrorism, white collar crime, CSAM or drugs, they will never have people smart enough to find out hidden containers on you.
Even if my phone is empty, I’m not going to give them a password out of principle. And I’m not saying anything in detention. No questions will be answered.
Again if I really need to get into the country, then I’ll try again at a different port of entry. Usually land crossings are easier.
if you’ve flown for 12 hours with all that entails to go to the US (for a reason) and are presented with the choice of unlocking your phone or be denied entry, you will cooperate. Especially if you moved all your sensitive info beforehand.
You’re free to do that, but seems like a good way to be put on a list to be harassed more in the future. You make a cop/border agent feel stupid and he/she will make sure to make your life harder.
The records will show you’re trying different ports of entry and if a border guard doesn’t like you, you will be selected for investigation and getting off that list may take years. Worse, you can be banned from entry for no reason and good luck appealing that.
Personally i like to treat the customs agents real nice. I call them sir or ma’am, i follow their instructions and i show them a squeaky clean phone and they let me off with a smile at the first port of entry. Being combative with an agent will not change the laws. Moreover if you have obligations to a company, they will not look kindly to this sort of attrition causing delays and will pass you over next time they need someone. This of course means you won’t get paid as much (or, depending on circumstances, at all).
I agree with the other poster, picking battles is the way to go.
They can still ask you to trun on and have it unlocked. Refuse and you being an international traveller? They probably will deny your entry.
In the very unlikely instance that happens, fly to the nearest country, make a backup of your phone, factory reset it, then fly back to a different poet of entry
The port of entry that originally denied you entrance immediately notes that in the system and you are “Flagged” at all other ports of entry.
The issue is that customs agents have the authority to refuse you entry into the country for no reason if they so choose. Refuse to consent to a search and you could be refused entry. This includes simply transiting through the airport, as the US requires foreigners to go through customs even for connecting flights (I’m not sure if that’s always the case, but it has always been the case for me.) So they can’t force you to let them search your phone, but the end result is the essentially the same.
And only for now until it inevitably gets appealed.
Hey that’s a good improvement
Always should have needed one.
