Password, Please: Border Searches of Laptops, Phones Up 32% This Year
gizmodo.com
gizmodo.com
Accessing Signal, OpenAI discovered (the absence of) disappearing messages to an external researcher.
So, if an application is password protected either by the OS or another app which demands a password to launch another app, would the official just ask for the application's launch password, or is that beyond whatever overly generous powers granted to them? Perhaps this is rhetorical, because what we called laws are merely ignored these days.
Laws for which there is no charge, no prosecution, and no consequence (I can give 34 examples) are merely suggestions.
And keep in mind that American citizens cannot be denied entry to the country for refusing to unlock or hand over their devices. They might hold you for a little while, but they cannot stop you.
They can, and frequently do, arrest you the second they admit you.
What for? Whatever they make up.
In the US they can also keep all your devices indefinitely.
USA effectively does that, though: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/may/21/us-travel-re...
my backups are not in a US Cloud.
Contacts and calendar on self hosted carddav
Pictures and files on self hosted drive.
Deltachat on mail servers (non us hosted provider) and XMPP conversation backups.
I don't backup whatsapp automatically, only do manual exports once in a while of important conversations that get copied to my self hosted server. Whatsapp pictures and vids are automatically synched with syncthing.
I host encrypted backups for another tech savy relative on a server of mine and in exchange he also host space for me on his own local backup server. We are 2000km appart so it allows us to keep a safe backup in remote location in case of fire or natural disaster without relying on the cloud.
Only thing I have missing is an automatic backup test of random files to compare checksums. I have done test backups manually but last was a bit more than a year ago so it is time to run a new one and add this automation as well.
It's rather sad too because I like lots of places there and there's lots of cool stuff but with what's happening, I'm making an active effort to avoid it.
Not saying that they don't exist - but I just haven't encountered it.
Instead of a killphrass/killcode, give them access to playground of `dummy` data.
Right before the wipe I update my cloud backups of course, and if I've been doing a lot of work I use Carbon Copy Cloner to an SSD encrypted APFS volume and use DHL to ship the SSD to someone I can retrieve it from once home. I also have finally started traveling with a second phone (a cheap Consumer Cellular backup flip phone with only a few family in the address book).
"Password, please" - "sure, no problem: Travel1234 with a capital T."*
Restoring the devices is a bit of a pain, but is faster and easier with the SSD assuming it arrives.
But them's the times we're living in.
* I suppose if it they ever ask and login, CBP will ask "Why doesn't your device have any user data? This is suspicious." I might tell them about the time an Israeli border dude took my computer into a back room for an hour and by the time I got home someone in Israel had stolen and sold one of my better domain names. Or might just shrug and say "Citizen".
I am a little curious in that scenario (thoroughly wiped device, comply with password request) if they still impound the wiped device (after they presumably connect it to whatever digital-strip-search gadget they hide in the back room and it comes back clean).
There are always bullies, and they always want to dominate.
Denying them the tools to do so is a necessity.
Whatever the tool.
P.S. Maybe a I need to quality: I’m referring to the searches and collection of data, and not to the often specious arguments for doing them (t-rism et al.).
Anything that matters is in the Linux one.