Not interesting in traveling to States. I am poor. Americans don’t need my euros.
We DO need them, but we don’t deserve them. Canada is pretty. I honeymooned in Quebec City.
Just wait 4 years and things will get better :D
That’s not news. The US has for a long time reading/copying contents of electric devices at the border
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Bingo. If anything, use of a burner phone will be purposely misconstrued as “suspicious”, and used as justification for more thorough screening.
“You just got it last week? That’s weird, we usually only hear drug smugglers using new phones. You’re not smuggling fentanyl, are you? OK, so you won’t mind if I take a look through your luggage to be sure, right? Maybe I should send you to secondary screening for an x-ray.”
While technically true, they weren’t kicking out foreign visitors for being critical if the president.
I used to train people in a specific culinary technique, and i had clients from all over the world, including Muslim clients from the Middle East and India. Most had no problem visiting, but one was stopped at the border and heavily grilled.
His visa said he was here for vacation and educational purposes, but when they went through his texts, they determined that he was here for business purposes, and threatened to confiscate his cash, and reject him from entering the country.
After a few hours, he eventually convinced them that he had considered his training with me to be educational rather than business for his visa, and it just an honest mistake, with no nefarious purpose, and was finally released so he could visit me, and get his training.
This was about 10 years ago, and I don’t remember who was president. It was either Trump or Obama.
2015 was Obama afaik. Trump came in 2016.
Obama was president for all of 2016 as well. Trump elected in 2016 but not sworn in until 2017.
I know, I have a calendar, I just wasn’t exactly sure if the timing, it might have been 10 years ago or 11, or 9, or 8, I don’t remember exactly.
They never asked to see my phone at the border. But the last time I crossed they were getting a hell of a lot more aggressive. They got less aggressive when I became a Canadian citizen, but when I only had my Lebanese passport they almost always brought me in for more questioning. It was kinda bizarre. They probably aggressively searched my luggage, but I can’t be sure of that.
probably had to do with your country of origin.
They got less aggressive when I became a Canadian citizen, but when I only had my Lebanese passport they almost always brought me in for more questioning.
This but with passport origins instead of skin color.
People have told me that I could pass for an Italian… hmm…
My checked luggage used to be searched when I went to usa. I knew it was searched because tsa would leave a pamphlet inside my luggage saying that it was searched. I believe they have stopped leaving such pamphlet but I won’t be surprised if they still search luggages.
I used to get “randomly” searched every time I fly in the US until I was sent to the side room for more extensive search and interview.
After that I never got randomly searched anymore whenever I go through the airport.
I think once they know everything and judged that I’m not going to be a problem, I stopped getting flagged.
From the news, this time feels a bit different.
Unfortunately I’ll avoid crossing the border until things settle down in a few years. I don’t want to get whisked away by ICE for looking at someone funny
There’s something ironic about reading this with a Home Depot (huge Trump supporter) ad embedded in it.
Just don’t go at all.
This is the only solution. I would rather eat nails than go to the States again.
I read that as snails and was about to comment “bonjour” … instead I did the joke in this meta way
Bonne journée mon ami(e).
Thats why you should use a Google Pixel with GraphineOS and a unique 20+ digit password (along with a secure VPN like Mullvad)
No avg person is doing this. Get a second phone with alias accounts.
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That is a good option. I am actually quite careful about what I use my phone for. I still on occasion use Google maps, but i turn location history off and I always delete previous searches.
I am aware that this does not remove them from google’s database, but it does make your movements not immediately obvious.
Also i would delete browser history and log out of all social media accounts (and disable remembering usernames/passwords) and even uninstall some apps in order to make who you interact eith less immediately obvious. Once you clear the border fully you can reinstall everything at your earliest convenience.
You may want to try Organic Maps. It can probably help in 80% of situations where you use Google Maps.
I also have osmand. At any rate I wish I could uninstall Google entirely off my computer. My dad was the one who made my gmail account back in 2005 (when it was invited only, if you can believe/remember that), and I have been using it for all my governmental and important stuff since. I have plenty of other emails, but most of them are for inconsequential stuff.
I use GraphineOS and tbh its not inconvenient to use
Convincing someone to completely change their operating system isn’t easy from the start.
If you’re genuenly worried about your security it makes sense, the average person however doesn’t care so they wont do anything to increase security
TBH, buying a cheap Chinese burner phone with no security relevant data on it just for traveling to the US, might be better security wise than buying an expensive Google Pixel Phone with GrapheneOS on it.
Especially now where Google, a US company and bound by its laws, that produces these devices, might (start) hand(ing) out backdoor keys to their hardware.
But with Graphene&Co you can make full backups, store them externally (e.g. selfhosted cloud) and then just apply before/after crossing borders as needed. Plus doing that makes a duress wipe way less painful if you ever need to. Tho, if you’re somewhere where they’re likely to just keep it instead of forcing an unlock or copying data, a cheap burner that doesn’t hurt to loose is still the better idea…
Would Private Internet Access work? That is my VPN.
They have mossad ties. Their CEO or something is a former spy. It’s owned by Israel.
https://hackread.com/private-internet-access-pia-vpn-sold-israel-privacy-concerns/
NOW YOU TELL ME! I have a three year plan with them!
In the same boat. I’m going to have to drop em and switch to mullvad.
💀
VPNs you should look into:
Proton*
Mullvad
IVPN
*Proton had a controversy involving the CEO claiming “Republicans are the party that ‘fight for the little guy’” so… do your own research. But they are also the best when it comes to amount of servers, so its less likely to get blocked by websites.
If they know your name and address its not secure
They would just deny entry if you refuse to unlock.
I got a secret for you. Grapheneos has a duress password feature, if you type it in, it completely wipes the phone. Give them that password and act surprised when the phone shits itself
That will accomplish you preventing them from seeing the contents of your phone. It will also accomplish you not getting past the border. At best.
That reminds me. I’m always bad at handling my stuff, and my stuff always break. Like imagine I just go cross a border one day and they demanded to see my phone, BUT my phone legit just stops working because I spilled coffee on it this morning and it decides to stop working RIGHT NOW, not earlier or later, butbjust as when I take out the phone, attempt to type in the real password, boom, screen goes black because it actually got liquid damage…
Like… that would be so… awkward…
I’m gonna look like a criminal lol
Just like going to china.
Ngl China didn’t touch my phone upon entry. Think my iris got scanned though and certainly got full palm printed.
One of the two people I know who have been to china had their phone taken for hours when they arrived. The other person reported much the same experience as you. The friend who had her phone taken was a US citizen but born of Chinese immigrants. The other who didn’t get their phone taken was not. I can’t help but think that her parents status there had something to do with.
That one born of Chinese immigrants would have been considered a citizen of China by the guards, not of the USA.
It’s not that uncommon for border patrol to go through your phone. I went to Canada 6-7 years ago and they went through my sister’s phone because she told them she wanted to meet a Canadian friend she had made online. Border patrol read their conversations while we waited in a confinement room. It was the last time I went to Canada
So they were trying to keep your sister from being human trafficked and you had a tantrum and refused to come back? Probably not a big loss for Canada.
No I went to Canada and had a great time. Since Canada will search your phone I calmly decided to vacation elsewhere. Really not a big deal.
Good luck finding anywhere else in the world where you aren’t subject to the search of your electronics. Canada appreciates your decision not to visit again.
Subject to and having it happen are different.
Also as a third party observer of this conversation, stop being a dick
I’ve travelled to dozens of countries and the only one where my phone was searched was the US. They searched a sanitized decoy phone. My actual phone was at home safe and sound. I didn’t cross my arms and stomp my feet and say I was never doing back because I’m not a petulant, entitled child. I understand that I am subject to the laws of the country that I’m visiting and go prepared. I think that anyone who swears that they are never going to visit a country that searched their sister’s phone to make sure she wasn’t walking into being human trafficked is someone that we can quite happily do without visiting our country.
If that’s being a dick then I’m a dick.
That’s not what makes you a dick. Your attitude, word choice, and insistence on being right is what’s making you a dick in my eyes.
However I just saw you’re an engineer so I’ll subtract 10 dick points because I know most of y’all can’t even help yourselves from thinking you’re the absolute authority on what’s right and wrong.
Cool. There really isn’t anything there worth seeing except people with beady eyes and flapping heads. Btw your maple syrup is tasteless, overpriced, and something only a douche bag would enjoy.
Easy fix for me I just won’t go.
If you really need to go to the US - Don’t bring any electronic devices with you through security or while transitioning through borders.
Leave your devices at home. Bring a single function camera with you if you want.
Once you get across the border … buy a new or used phone. If you have friends or family waiting for you, ask them to get you a phone, maybe even an old phone or get them to buy a used phone that you can use during your stay (pay them to get it of course).
Set up your new phone - load your data through cloud based systems … if you are organized enough, you can set up a cloud based password manager to handle all your other data services.
Then when you leave, reformat and reset your phone and either try to sell off the phone you just bought, give it away or just toss it.
Go through security again without a device.
“Traveling to the US,” are you actually mad??
It’s fine, same as it always was crossing the border, just don’t fuck around lying to border guards or announce you’re taking bookings for tattoos this week in Seattle on Instagram. Basically the news has decided to publicize this shit like it wasn’t happening 2 months ago either, same as how they focus on “kids in cages” only when a republican is president or plane crashes that 2 weeks there.
FWIW the US is claiming that the researcher had confidential information from Los Alamos National Labs against the terms of his NDA. They claim the researcher admitted to taking the information and attempting to conceal it.
I honestly hope this is the explanation. If we’re starting to deny entry to the country simply due to criticisms of domestic policy decisions, we’re going down yet another dark path.
How is that a problem when the president is out there storing confidential docs in his golf course, and when they fire off the cybersecurity teams?
Or when private citizens are freely given the details of U.S. plans to respond militarily to China?
I was at the conference he was supposed to attend - the Lunar and Planetary Science conference. There were a lot of people showing Los Alamos data there.
That doesn’t mean anything, at all. Just because “a lot of people [were] showing Los Alamos data” doesn’t mean all Los Alamos data can be publicized.
Ex: a guy named Robert who led a very particular research effort in New Mexico
Heh, about time to get factory reset on speed dial.
You know having a freshly wiped phone right before getting searched would make you just as suscious, right. They would assume the worst about you, and either deport, or just detain you to a black site for months. Just use a burner.
There’s an app for that. Its called ripple.
A little more info please, all I’m finding is info about a money transfer app.
Add “guardian project” to your qureries
💛 Thank you friend!!! For everyone else, https://f-droid.org/packages/info.guardianproject.ripple
https://guardianproject.info/apps/info.guardianproject.ripple/
Use F-Droid — the Ripple app that Jagged is referring to has a blue droplet icon.
Sponsored by Home Depot
LOL they changed the headlines to “hateful towards U.S. Policy” now? I thought it was “critical of Trump”.
If you bring a burner phone and they search it and see nothing on it, they’ll think that suspicious too and might deny entry.
Fill it with Cat photos 😼
source
No explicit source, but it’s common sense and within their abilities, keep in mind recently changed rules around searching in general have changed recently…
Border agent: I’m going to search your phone give me the password.
(eventually you agree because it’s a burner)
You: Here you go
Border agent: There’s nothing on this phone, no email, no pictures, nothing? What are you trying to hide?
You: Well it’s a new phone I just got
Border agent: And you haven’t logged into anything yet?
You: Ya.
Border agent: looks like you’re trying to hide something, this isn’t normal behaviour
You: start looking nervous as the border agent’s tone changes
Border agent: You’re looking a little nervous now, are you hiding something?
You: no, just trying to travel
Border agent: Goes away and talks to someone, then comes back and says, sorry were going to deny you.
They can deny anyone for any reason. It would ultimately come down to how you handle the situation, but DO expect to be grilled about it if you haven’t set it up to look real.
