How to protect you from telephone searches to the US border

Cyr, by Amnesty International, also stresses that a real burner phone would be a “stupid” phone, which would not be able to perform apps for encrypted communications. “The advantage we all have with smartphones is that you can communicate encryptedly,” says Cyr. “People should be aware of the fact that any non -encrypted communication is less sure than a phone call or a message on an application such as the signal.”

Although a travel device does not need to use a prepaid sim card purchased with cash, it should not share the normal phone number, since this number is probably connected to most if not all your key digital accounts. Buy a SIM card for your trip or use only the device on Wi-Fi.

Travel with your main phone

The other approach you can adopt to protect your device during border crossings is to change the primary smartphone before the trip. This involves the removal of old photos and messages and the memorization somewhere else, the cleaning of the non -essential apps and the completely removal of some apps or the disconnecting them with your main accounts and access with travel accounts.

Mohammed Al-Maskati, director of assistance for digital security of the Access Now rights group, says that people should consider this type of cleaning before traveling. “I’ll look at my device and see which apps I need,” he says. “If I don’t need the app, I remove it.”

Al-Maskati adds that it suggests that people remember in particular to remove appointments apps and anything related to LGBTQI communities, especially if they consider themselves at a greater risk of dealing with a search for devices. And in general, this approach is only sure if you are particularly diligent in the removal of each app that could expose to the risk.

You could use your phone as a travel phone by supporting it, drying it, building a travel device with only the apps you really need during the trip, go on the road and then restoring from the backup when you come home. This approach is feasible but takes a long time and creates more opportunities for operational safety errors or what is known as “Opsc fails”. If you try to delete all your old unwanted apps, but to miss one, you could end up exposing an old social media account or another historical service that has forgotten the data in it. Message apps can have easily researchable archives that go back and can automatically save photos and files without realizing it. And if you make the backup of all your data in the cloud and remove it from your device, but you are still accessing the cloud account at the base of other services (such as your Google or Apple main account), you may be asked to produce data from the cloud for inspection.

However, if you evaluate that you are low risk of facing a control during a border crossbar or you have no access to an additional travel device, changing your main smartphone is a good option. Just be careful.

What to do, if nothing else

Given all this, you may be enthusiastic and ready to throw the phone in the ocean. Or you might think that there is no way to hell that you never take some time to face anything of this. For those in the latter field, you arrived so far away, so don’t click yet. If you do not want to take the time to make a lot of changes and do not think you are at particular risk during border crossings (even if you keep in mind that it is possible that your risk is higher than you realize), there are still some easy things you can do to protect your digital privacy that are better than nothing.

First of all, as mentioned above, print a paper boat pass and any other document you may need. Even if you do not turn off the phone and put it in a bag for the entire entry or exit process, you can put it in your pocket and have your paper ticket and other ready -made documents while actually interact with the agents. And adopt the basic passages of digital hygiene, such as updating the phone and the removal of apps and data you no longer need, can do much.

“We all have to recognize that authorities can examine your online presence, including the activity of social media and posts you have published,” says Danacea Vo, founder of Cyberlixir, a computer security supplier For non -profit and vulnerable organizations. “Since people had more vocal on social media, they are very worried about this. Some have even decided not to risk traveling from or to the United States this year.”