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DivingForGold 5 hours ago [-]
"If you’re a fan of privacy in our age of creeping digital authoritarianism, there’s one famously effective way to pass through U.S. Customs at an airport without worrying about a device search: travel with a burner phone only."
What about setting your phone from the get go to store all data on the micro sim card ? Then, when traveling through airports, swap out for another micro sim that has some small, useless data on it, fake contact list, etc. ?
Real sim card is so small can be hidden in a million places.
tdeck 2 hours ago [-]
At least on Android they've removed the ability to encrypt data stored on external media, so in exchange for the ability to do this you're carrying around everything unencrypted (except what individual apps might encrypt themselves).
inigyou 5 hours ago [-]
That isn't something that actually exists
londons_explore 4 hours ago [-]
Replace micro SIM with micro SD, and it can be done on android.
This does at best 1% of what the parent mentions. Is that going to hold all your data across all your phone apps?
6 hours ago [-]
pbgcp2026 1 hours ago [-]
Do not cross with your gadgets. And just do not go to / via the US.
anon291 4 hours ago [-]
When this hits the supreme Court they need to debar the prosecutors who bring these cases to begin with.
benoau 7 hours ago [-]
Fascinating case and arms-race, seems like part of the issue is the bricking is too obvious...
throwuxiytayq 4 hours ago [-]
Disgusting. I’ve never had to let anyone touch my phone in my entire life in any country I’ve visited.
Is there a list of countries that does this? At this point it’s obvious I won’t ever be traveling to the US, but I’m curious if genuinely authoritarian countries like China are actually less of a police state at the border than the USA.
rmarquis 2 hours ago [-]
I've been to China recently. No phone search whatsoever. Their Internet is behind the famous Great Firewall though, but there is no issue using a (foreigner-only) unlocked sim or e-sim to access the rest of the Internet.
ytoawwhra92 4 hours ago [-]
I think almost all countries do this if your name is on a list (as this person's is). It's the nature of the lists and what gets your name added to them that varies from country to country.
petterroea 2 hours ago [-]
Visiting another country is a privilege, not a right.
36 minutes ago [-]
joeblubaugh 25 minutes ago [-]
This is a US citizen, so that’s a moot point
mdp2021 2 hours ago [-]
That, whatever it means, cannot mean losses of personal rights.
petterroea 1 hours ago [-]
It means you aren't entitled to visit a foreign country. You aren't entitled to them letting you in.
Of course in a perfect world we all trust each other and have open borders, but that's a privilege we have to work for. I'm European and enjoy the open borders, but also am well aware that such a situation is not a given.
Cannot mean loss of personal rights, sure. Showing up at a border and being required to give up personal rights isn't ok.
But many people in this thread are writing as if they actually believe they have a right to go anywhere, and that simply isn't the case. It's the kind of thing you need live in a strong passport country to believe.
aa-jv 54 minutes ago [-]
Rights are universal, whether a state cares about them or not.
thenthenthen 4 hours ago [-]
I travelled to the US three times and once had my devices checked. Travelled to China more than 50 times, never had anything checked.
crimsdings 59 minutes ago [-]
That's because they already checked in advance :)
35 minutes ago [-]
artisinal 3 hours ago [-]
UK passed a law for this recently. Germany has been doing it for a while.
ChrisArchitect 7 hours ago [-]
Title is: A Feature That Makes Your Phone Data Self-Destruct in Authorities’ Hands May Soon Have Its Day in Court
What about setting your phone from the get go to store all data on the micro sim card ? Then, when traveling through airports, swap out for another micro sim that has some small, useless data on it, fake contact list, etc. ?
Real sim card is so small can be hidden in a million places.
Is there a list of countries that does this? At this point it’s obvious I won’t ever be traveling to the US, but I’m curious if genuinely authoritarian countries like China are actually less of a police state at the border than the USA.
Of course in a perfect world we all trust each other and have open borders, but that's a privilege we have to work for. I'm European and enjoy the open borders, but also am well aware that such a situation is not a given.
Cannot mean loss of personal rights, sure. Showing up at a border and being required to give up personal rights isn't ok.
But many people in this thread are writing as if they actually believe they have a right to go anywhere, and that simply isn't the case. It's the kind of thing you need live in a strong passport country to believe.
And it's 3 day old news
[dupe] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49024436