95% of the world put people in privately owned prisons so that someone get make some money from the government and the imprisoned before their flight back home?
The letter's author here. I'm actually British, living in Germany. By the standards of Europe the US has gone completely mad.
95% of the world's countries inspect your phone at the border for messages critical of the government?
I've travelled several times to the US and never had that issue. Is really a thing?
However our company issues specific laptops and phones before travelling to China as they do get searched.
Yes, it is a thing the US does.
I think this is what they are referring to: "French scientist denied US entry after phone messages critical of Trump found" [1][2]