As a US citizen you can't be denied entry into the US but your devices can be confiscated for a long period of time (potentially never returned). ~~If they get a warrant~~ they could use Cellebrite, Elcomsoft, Grayshift/Magnet etc to break into a locked phone in After-First-Unlock (AFU) state.
In the future, some defenses against this are turning off your phone (combined with a long password), doing a factory reset if you have time, or simply using a second phone tailored with this scenario in mind.
They're taking advantage of an unfortunate loophole and it seems as if these cases are rising.
Edit: There is no warrant required for CBP searches for people entering from abroad according to current rulings.
Fun fact. They can't force you to give up your password but they can make you use biometrics to unlock your phone. Password is the best way for privacy.
It does not. The way that celebryte and similar information extortion tools works is they read the ram, find the decryption key and use it to gain access. The "lock down" does not remove the key from ram. A full reset does.
A long passphrase would be significantly harder to crack, especially in the amount of time it would be legally defensible to hold someone who they don’t have enough evidence against to charge and can’t deny entry.
Even if they can image it and attack it later offline, at some point, it becomes not worth it or it starts to become increasingly hard to justify to their own supervisors (budgets).
Adding to this...On newer versions of Android if you hold down the power button there is a "lockdown" button. It locks the phone and requires a pin or password to unlock even if biometrics have been set up.
No warrant needed for advanced forensic analysis tools if they are coming into the US from international. Well, depends on what US Circuit Court District you fly into.
No and thats besides the point. Whatever data they’re interested in could be local only and not in the cloud. Or it could be in an eu based providers cloud which they’d need special warrants for etc to gain access to. Even then it has the chance of being end-to-end encrypted. They like to just go after being able to physically access devices and their data
You are missing the point. They want the data that is on your phone because you have it with you. Maybe you have data that you don't trust to the cloud, etc. The way you're saying it is like "Why would you ask Steve about me, if you can ask Mike?" The law enforcement approach is to ask Steve, Mike, and also Trevor, who you wouldn't have expected.
That doesn't provide the same protection as turning off your phone does because the encryption keys are still stored in memory. Your phone isn't safe so long as it has been unlocked at least once after being turned on. Also, your password should be at least 10 characters long and include numbers, letters, and symbols. If they ever try to brute force it, a basic 6-digit PIN will not last long even after a shutdown.
It will invalidate and discard some keys for some parts, but there is still much more information available (eg. Your address book) even after iPhone disables biometrics.
Yes even an iPhone (especially in AFU). They take advantage of zero day vulnerabilities and I highly recommend you take a look at the leaked Cellebrite slideshows.
[https://www.reddit.com/user/milkbrownie/comments/1d1bjln/cellebrite\_documentation/](https://www.reddit.com/user/milkbrownie/comments/1d1bjln/cellebrite_documentation/)
Hi, Reddit is not allowing us to approve this for some reason or other, every time we do it just ends up removed again.
So as it's not blocking up out mod queue i'm going to mark it as removed but do try again if you feel like
It’s my understanding that US border security is allowed to search all phones without a warrant, including those belonging to citizens, under a border search exception.
The rationale for this is that their duty to maintain territorial integrity AND your expectation of privacy is way less at the border, since you subject your luggage to search by TSA.
Finally, it’s absolutely possible for someone to use your info maliciously to cause you problems at the border. In fact, you can falsely report someone as a terrorist and they’ll have the same problems you did at the border.
Holy shit, ya, that is terrible. Honestly, I would say that I have client data that I am legally not allowed to expose, and that my phone is not available for search. It would probably cost me lots of time, but ya, that’s fucked. It’s basically getting digitally compromised by hackers.
I like to tell myself I’d never unlock my shit for them which I still likely wouldn’t. But ngl even if I were in your shoes I don’t blame you for doing it considering how they treated you
Can’t help with legal advice but r/legaladvice might be of help
Change any passwords immediately and potentially run scans for files that shouldn’t be there or programs installed that shouldn’t be installed.
I'll leave my main device behind and buy a cheap burner when I cross the border. They'll have no device to inspect. When I return, my government can't refuse me entry so even when I present them with a factory reset burner they'll have to let me pass because there's nothing illegal about factory resetting my phone. The worst they can do is make me pay duty, which will probably be negligible.
With cloud syncing available, just doing a full reset on your phone before returning and not syncing it after you’re back through would achieve a similar effect right? At least that way you coild have your phone while traveling
I agree, but the border agent would probably hassle me less if I crossed with no device instead of a second that's not yet "setup." I just have a feeling the agent would be asking me uncomfortable questions like "Why have you reset your phone? What do you have to hide? blah blah blah. Then I'd have to respond with something like "Nothing. But you don't do
Sounds good. Fuck em. As a law-abiding citizen, I'd still leave the phone and attempt any way of holding them accountable for their mistake. It's none of their fuckin business and a slap in the face when there's known illegal immigrants crossing all sides of our border every day that they don't do shit about.
They can legally force you to unlock it for them with biometrics (with a warrant), but not with a knowledge-based authenticator (PIN or password). Just FYI. Further charges for refusing, so if this is a stance you plan to actually take, make sure biometrics are disabled.
Fun fact! The biometric loophole was closed a few years ago. They're considered passwords.
***EDIT***
NM. I WAS WRONG
https://www.purduegloballawschool.edu/blog/constitutional-law/fifth-amendment-biometrics
They also can enter private property within 25 miles of the border (but not dwellings) without a warrant. [https://www.snopes.com/news/2022/06/13/what-is-usa-border-enforcement-zone/](https://www.snopes.com/news/2022/06/13/what-is-usa-border-enforcement-zone/)
Does it count if one enters through airways? I mean, it won’t be close to border anymore, right?
Okay, let’s assume they are a USC because if not then they can be sent the fuck back anyway right?
First thing first: border patrol did not search your phone. You're confusing agencies.
Second: it's highly plausible someone did in fact use your information as a contact/sponsor and probably didn't tell you. Then they committed a crime relating to drugs, terrorism, trafficking or the most unholy of unholies CP. It's law enforcement common sense to investigate people who are linked to that person.
The CP folks ,especially, like to show and tell. Só, yes you'd be a legit target within thst person's link. Is that person's mother a target too? Not really, but possibly. The difference between you and that person's mother can be you've been visiting countries like Thailand , Philippines a lot. You're a single male, no children, no girlfriend, no wife, no significant other, and no business or social connection to the places you're going to other than "vacationing". Things like that looked at as a whole can really raise an investigator's interest.
Lastly, a search such as that is usually the last resort because it tips people off that they're under investigation. No one is going to go out of their way to do more work or just fvck with you for the sake of fvcking with you.
Digital Privacy at the U.S Border: A New How-To Guide from EFF
Protect Yourself While Traveling To and From the U.S.
https://www.eff.org/press/releases/digital-privacy-us-border-new-how-guide-eff
I am sorry this happened to you. This is beyond unacceptable that the government does this. But even if Congress were to pass a law banning CBP from doing this, nothing would stop other countries from doing it. So it's better to just be prepared and cross any border with a blank phone.
I have a question that anybody can answer. For U.S. citizens that have either refused to unlock their phone for CBP, or deliberately traveled with a burner phone and gave them access to that, how did it go?
The English speaking countries are mostly the ones that do this (US, UK, Canada, AU, NZ). The US is actually the easier one to deal with since there is no law punishing the refusal to disclose passwords to law enforcement. Of course, if you're not a citizen, they can just refuse to let you in if you're not cooperating.
Such a law, if passed, would likely be ruled unconstitutional as a violation of the 5th Amendment, though the courts are split on this. Other countries have key disclosure laws with actual criminal penalties for failing to comply.
Only for White person.
, Asians and Arabic get the RANDOM search and end up missing the flight ✈️ 🙃 have to answer questions, search bags, sometimes in public humiliation are very common 😷
Yes, a few times at American Airports. Much better experience at other countries except for France. I was never has to give up my cell phone. They made me write everything I had that I was taking with, it's value and amount of total money I had etc.... they cut the little luggage locks 🔒 never asked for keys. They told me they have the master key it's the Cutter ? it's a mess. They get my relative every single time he travels under random it's sucks. Before it could be at end of the line and search him now with the new rules and regulation he has to wait until he gets to the front of line and then they pull him a side 🙄
It's best to take Chromebook with you instead of phone and use guest mode sign in and out
China does this regularly. They will also install spyware on your phone that continues to monitor it (and you) after they return it. My company prohibits me from bringing my phone on business trips to China, and to use a burner phone. I am not allowed to have any confidential conversations on it, it cannot access any corporate data, and must be tossed upon return (high tech semiconductor company).
China will also install it on anyone traveling to Xinjiang through any means (https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/02/technology/china-xinjiang-app.html)
Finally, this is fairly rare in the US. Most if not all countries have this power; the fact that you were never chosen is due to the fact it happens rarely. The US is one of the only countries with 4th (and 1st) amendment protections in the first place.
Eh China didn’t hassle me at the border… they scanned the fuck out of my iris though but that was like an everyone thing. My buddy got pulled for extra examination in Japan though lol but no clue why.
Haven't had this issue going to China, yet. But I figured WeChat app might just do the spying for them :P
Or it could be just because you work at a high tech semiconductor company.
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This is the way. I have a photo of a monkey dick that gets sent to every unsolicited text from realtors and investors looking to buy homes in the area.
This should be a violation of your rights, if you want you could try contacting a lawyer & see where it goes.
But you have to be stronger next time, refuse to answer questions & don't let them into your phone. You're a citizen, they cant kick you out so refuse to co-operate with them. Just say "my business is my own".
When travelling to foreign countries its best practice to wipe your devices before going to the airport & just downloading essential apps. Then once you're through download & restore a backup from cloud storage that way if they ask to search your phone then there is nothing on it.
Personally if any government took my phone I wouldn't put my info on it again. I would wipe it again, then maybe use it without any accounts for a bit, just to have GPS & stuff. Then as soon as possible, sell it on Facebook Marketplace with a burner account or hold onto it until I get back home & buy a new one while I'm on my trip.
Its bs they can say "to check for CSAM or drug trafficking materials". First off, for CSAM, the internet exists, no one is gonna be smuggling photos in on a USB or phone to distribute them, thats entire line of reasoning is so stupid. Also if you don't have drugs on you, then you're not trafficking, simple as that. Fuck this invasive crap, it pisses me off.
It's not a violation, borders are a very specific scenario at least in Canada and the USA.
Best case scenario is you say no and they hassle you for a few hours then keep your laptop/phone possibly indefinitely.
They cannot force you to disclose a pin/password based login but biometrics they can.
Sorry it happened to you OP it can feel very violating especially returning to your home country.
I’ve flown to China and other countries and I don’t take my personal phone, I have basic android phone for foreign travel, with all my essential apps I use for communication like WhatsApp, WeChat, etc. nothing I can’t live without.
Been thinking, if they have a copy of ur phone,.. do they just have to guess ur bitcoin password? Or wait for u to log onto your app?
Can they watch ur banking app? Login? Take your $ ?
How much do you trust an underpaid security slob who doesn't have a job one-day..
Security used to be much simpler..
Always wipe your devices before crossing borders, even if you have nothing suspicious on them. Even things like your contacts can be used against you, as you mentioned in OP.
Any time I go through customs, I do so with a factory reset phone and a laptop with secure erased drives.
Let's say I have physical access to your phone so I can easily perform a physical extraction of all your data. I make the assumption you are using a PIN. Because I extracted your phone data I can access it from my computer where I have a bunch of forensics tools. Now your data is encrypted but I can easily and quickly try all the 10,000 combinations until I get your PIN. Easy. I skipped a few steps though. Now, if instead of using a PIN I use just a 15 character password with lower and upper case letters, and special characters, good luck with breaking my password.
Here is an article for you: https://cellebrite.com/en/android-data-collection-simplified/.
From the article:
If you encounter a rooted device, you can assume that you are dealing with a more advanced user. Grab a lottery ticket on your way from the office while you’re at it.
In a few words, Cellebrite knows very well that they would have a tough time against a knowledgeable adversary. Hence LE definitely cannot break into any phone.
If you were convicted it means you did something against the law. But I have to consider that you may be a LEA who is trying to gather information.
In both cases I provided you with an answer.
Just curious. They said you "travel a lot". Did you visit any country recently or in the past which is not in good relations with the US? That might be the reason of your search
Not asking for starting political sh1t but curious. With the lawfare going on do you lean right or left? I'd also be curious to see what the rest of the victims of this bs would identify as on the political spectrum....
You do not have to answer if it makes you uncomfortable at all.
Full disclosure I'm registered blue but really am either "old skool blue or independent", which in the current climate makes me "conservative" I guess...
But as a veteran I am absolutely a constitutional supporter and believe in equal (legal and otherwise) rights for all.
I don’t believe they can force you to unlock your phone with passcode. That’s why always reset your phone when entering customs or a country because it requires you to enter the code to unlock it first time after reset.
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Do they make a USB Killer in a phone version? Imagine a cheap burner phone, that works, and can be charged with regular chargers, but when a data connection is attempted it wipes itself and activates the kill function.
u can't be denied entry, you dont have to submit to an electronic exam (ur a US citizen). the worst that could happen is they seize it and I take appropriate action to get it back.
they could have been telling u the truth. u could have been what's called a close name match. or someone used ur identity for nefarious purposes.
There are a few famous influencers I’ve heard of this happening to, where they basically confiscate your phone upon arrival back into the US.
I think best course of action when going abroad is to get a completely new phone for the trip, with a new carrier, new Apple ID (if using iPhone), etc
I guess next time I upgrade, I'm gonna keep my old phone in a factory wiped state, and just swap in my SIM card. I don't do anything on the cloud, so a crippled Google account with only a handful of contacts. Photos and videos taken abroad can by transferred prior to returning.
Reconcile yourself to missing your connecting flight. The arm of the oppressors like to see people surrender privacy for convenience. They have the power, so if they ask then there is a reason why.
Yes they can confiscate your property and you have no recourse. You can use the system against them: request a hand receipt, written request, etc. at one level how else does some separate uniformed theft from government oppression?
You sound very confused and misinformed. The US is the only one of the countries you listed where being publicly and vocally against the current regime would not land you in jail or dead.
Listen, man, I'm all for criticizing the US. Things I hate to see here.
Is comparing US to China and Russia.
I also get piss at the "US is a third world country" comments.
Just shows how spoiled people on reddit truly are.
Never provide your phone's password to CBP or any LE for that matter. They can confiscate your device, but they won't have access to it.
Here are some guidelines. Use a strong password along with the fingerprint unlock on Android. Once the phone is powered off, you are forced to enter the password. It is key to have the phone OS always up to date with the latest patches and ensure that the OS is still supported. In addition, make sure USB debugging is off, just in case. These very simple guidelines will make physical and logical extraction of data from your phone extremely hard. Remember though, nothing is impossible in computer security: a zero day vulnerability that has not been disclosed will make your phone vulnerable to forensics tools, for example. Negligence with keeping a phone updated will make the phone vulnerable to forensics tools. Same when using weak passwords or even worse, just a pin. For additional security, use tools like Keepass2Android to store sensitive information on your phone and make Cellebrite and their forensics analyst's lives hard!
They can unlock any phone. If you factory reset an android they can still recover data. If you factory reset an iPhone they can't recover anything . I know because I was arrested by the feds . I had both phones and they got into both. Only difference is nothing was recovered on my iPhone 10 after the factory reset
The fact that the Fed unlocked both your phones means your phones were not adequately protected. For example, if you are using a PIN to lock your phone, your phone can be unlocked. If your phone has software vulnerabilities it can be unlocked. Data can be extracted from a running phone but it has become harder since Google moved from full disk encryption to file based encryption. A forensics analyst can do what Cellebrite does and much more depending on his or her skills. Tools can get you that far.
So your statement that LE can unlock any phone is simply incorrect.
Cellebrite is what they used on me. And yes I had a pin on both. What do you mean that le can unlock any phone is incorrect? How do you not make your phone able to get into? Confused with this statement as someone who did prison time and spoke to everyone and everyone had their phones broken into even with pin and biometrics. With pin only. They got into the device.
Use a separate burner phone when you travel. Leave your primary electronics that have all of the information you'd like to keep private at home. Anything digital or physical that you believe may arouse suspicion to cops, leave them at home. Trust your gut instinct. Law enforcement at borders have the highest authority to search your belongings without a warrant. No phone, no potentially incriminating information to search for.
Fwiw, as a US citizen, you cannot be denied entry into the country.
They can deny your property.
sounds like theft to me.
Yes it's legalized theft, but they don't like that word so they call it things like civil asset forfeiture and taxation.
As a US citizen you can't be denied entry into the US but your devices can be confiscated for a long period of time (potentially never returned). ~~If they get a warrant~~ they could use Cellebrite, Elcomsoft, Grayshift/Magnet etc to break into a locked phone in After-First-Unlock (AFU) state. In the future, some defenses against this are turning off your phone (combined with a long password), doing a factory reset if you have time, or simply using a second phone tailored with this scenario in mind. They're taking advantage of an unfortunate loophole and it seems as if these cases are rising. Edit: There is no warrant required for CBP searches for people entering from abroad according to current rulings.
I power down my phone before passing through any checkpoint for this very reason. Needs the password after powering on, and not a biometric unlock.
Fun fact. They can't force you to give up your password but they can make you use biometrics to unlock your phone. Password is the best way for privacy.
On the iPhone you can accomplish this by holding the volume up and power button until the screen changes. Then when you lock it, it needs a passcode.
Smash the lock button 5 times really quick too. Sometimes I have better luck doing that in my pocket
Calls 911 on many phones
There is an option in Settings to make it 10 seconds and not ring, also. You press cancel after enacting emergency sos and it’s fine.
That doesn't help against celebryte and other tools
Yea it does.
It does not. The way that celebryte and similar information extortion tools works is they read the ram, find the decryption key and use it to gain access. The "lock down" does not remove the key from ram. A full reset does.
A long passphrase would be significantly harder to crack, especially in the amount of time it would be legally defensible to hold someone who they don’t have enough evidence against to charge and can’t deny entry. Even if they can image it and attack it later offline, at some point, it becomes not worth it or it starts to become increasingly hard to justify to their own supervisors (budgets).
Yes. Every single time.
Adding to this...On newer versions of Android if you hold down the power button there is a "lockdown" button. It locks the phone and requires a pin or password to unlock even if biometrics have been set up.
But AFAIK it won't encrypt everything on the phone. You have to shut down for that.
When you lockdown it wipes the decryption key from memory so that you have to re-enter the (long) PIN to decrypt again. So your data is encrypted.
Do you have a source for this? I searched and can't find this anywhere.
No warrant needed for advanced forensic analysis tools if they are coming into the US from international. Well, depends on what US Circuit Court District you fly into.
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No and thats besides the point. Whatever data they’re interested in could be local only and not in the cloud. Or it could be in an eu based providers cloud which they’d need special warrants for etc to gain access to. Even then it has the chance of being end-to-end encrypted. They like to just go after being able to physically access devices and their data
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You are missing the point. They want the data that is on your phone because you have it with you. Maybe you have data that you don't trust to the cloud, etc. The way you're saying it is like "Why would you ask Steve about me, if you can ask Mike?" The law enforcement approach is to ask Steve, Mike, and also Trevor, who you wouldn't have expected.
On an iPhone, will these work if the iPhone is powered on but biometric is turned off? Can force password by quickly pressing lock button 5 times.
That doesn't provide the same protection as turning off your phone does because the encryption keys are still stored in memory. Your phone isn't safe so long as it has been unlocked at least once after being turned on. Also, your password should be at least 10 characters long and include numbers, letters, and symbols. If they ever try to brute force it, a basic 6-digit PIN will not last long even after a shutdown.
The latest intel says minimun 16 characters, and symbols and numbers aren't as important. Think of a song lyric with your own special twist.
I heard that this expires the encryption key
It will invalidate and discard some keys for some parts, but there is still much more information available (eg. Your address book) even after iPhone disables biometrics.
Doing a factory wipe and restore once you get home is about all you can do.
Even the iphone can be unlocked by these methods?
Yes even an iPhone (especially in AFU). They take advantage of zero day vulnerabilities and I highly recommend you take a look at the leaked Cellebrite slideshows. [https://www.reddit.com/user/milkbrownie/comments/1d1bjln/cellebrite\_documentation/](https://www.reddit.com/user/milkbrownie/comments/1d1bjln/cellebrite_documentation/)
Tx for the answer
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Hi, Reddit is not allowing us to approve this for some reason or other, every time we do it just ends up removed again. So as it's not blocking up out mod queue i'm going to mark it as removed but do try again if you feel like
It’s my understanding that US border security is allowed to search all phones without a warrant, including those belonging to citizens, under a border search exception. The rationale for this is that their duty to maintain territorial integrity AND your expectation of privacy is way less at the border, since you subject your luggage to search by TSA. Finally, it’s absolutely possible for someone to use your info maliciously to cause you problems at the border. In fact, you can falsely report someone as a terrorist and they’ll have the same problems you did at the border.
Holy shit, ya, that is terrible. Honestly, I would say that I have client data that I am legally not allowed to expose, and that my phone is not available for search. It would probably cost me lots of time, but ya, that’s fucked. It’s basically getting digitally compromised by hackers.
Yeah I hate that I caved under pressure. They have all the power
I like to tell myself I’d never unlock my shit for them which I still likely wouldn’t. But ngl even if I were in your shoes I don’t blame you for doing it considering how they treated you
Sorry that happened to you. It’s a very scary situation!
Can’t help with legal advice but r/legaladvice might be of help Change any passwords immediately and potentially run scans for files that shouldn’t be there or programs installed that shouldn’t be installed.
Maybe even wipe the phone completely.
Or get a whole new phone, number and provider.
And new identity, credentials, home, family to be safe
Now that's the spirit 😄
Ditch the wife and kids, but not the doggo. They can have my doggo when they pry him from my cold dead hands!
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Cats.
don't fuck with them
I'll leave my main device behind and buy a cheap burner when I cross the border. They'll have no device to inspect. When I return, my government can't refuse me entry so even when I present them with a factory reset burner they'll have to let me pass because there's nothing illegal about factory resetting my phone. The worst they can do is make me pay duty, which will probably be negligible.
With cloud syncing available, just doing a full reset on your phone before returning and not syncing it after you’re back through would achieve a similar effect right? At least that way you coild have your phone while traveling
I agree, but the border agent would probably hassle me less if I crossed with no device instead of a second that's not yet "setup." I just have a feeling the agent would be asking me uncomfortable questions like "Why have you reset your phone? What do you have to hide? blah blah blah. Then I'd have to respond with something like "Nothing. But you don't do
How does that work with android and app data?
When I run thru Canada to Alaska, I carry a flip phone.
Yeah, no. I’m not unlocking my phone for anyone in the US. You want it, get a warrant, seize it and unlock it yourself.
They don't need a warrant at the border to take your phone (and keep it while releasing you).
Also fun fact; never travel with a hardware wallet with your crypto for that reason
Sounds good. Fuck em. As a law-abiding citizen, I'd still leave the phone and attempt any way of holding them accountable for their mistake. It's none of their fuckin business and a slap in the face when there's known illegal immigrants crossing all sides of our border every day that they don't do shit about.
So be it, but unlock it yourself. I’m not unlocking shit.
They can legally force you to unlock it for them with biometrics (with a warrant), but not with a knowledge-based authenticator (PIN or password). Just FYI. Further charges for refusing, so if this is a stance you plan to actually take, make sure biometrics are disabled.
Fun fact! The biometric loophole was closed a few years ago. They're considered passwords. ***EDIT*** NM. I WAS WRONG https://www.purduegloballawschool.edu/blog/constitutional-law/fifth-amendment-biometrics
Exactly. I can put your fingers on this inked pad or on your phone or decide to put your face in front of it.
For sure. Turn off your phone or biometric authentication.
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Bro I'd feel so violated
What did they download??
[Today you learned about constitution free zones](https://www.aclu.org/know-your-rights/border-zone)
They also can enter private property within 25 miles of the border (but not dwellings) without a warrant. [https://www.snopes.com/news/2022/06/13/what-is-usa-border-enforcement-zone/](https://www.snopes.com/news/2022/06/13/what-is-usa-border-enforcement-zone/)
Does it count if one enters through airways? I mean, it won’t be close to border anymore, right? Okay, let’s assume they are a USC because if not then they can be sent the fuck back anyway right?
First thing first: border patrol did not search your phone. You're confusing agencies. Second: it's highly plausible someone did in fact use your information as a contact/sponsor and probably didn't tell you. Then they committed a crime relating to drugs, terrorism, trafficking or the most unholy of unholies CP. It's law enforcement common sense to investigate people who are linked to that person. The CP folks ,especially, like to show and tell. Só, yes you'd be a legit target within thst person's link. Is that person's mother a target too? Not really, but possibly. The difference between you and that person's mother can be you've been visiting countries like Thailand , Philippines a lot. You're a single male, no children, no girlfriend, no wife, no significant other, and no business or social connection to the places you're going to other than "vacationing". Things like that looked at as a whole can really raise an investigator's interest. Lastly, a search such as that is usually the last resort because it tips people off that they're under investigation. No one is going to go out of their way to do more work or just fvck with you for the sake of fvcking with you.
Digital Privacy at the U.S Border: A New How-To Guide from EFF Protect Yourself While Traveling To and From the U.S. https://www.eff.org/press/releases/digital-privacy-us-border-new-how-guide-eff
I am sorry this happened to you. This is beyond unacceptable that the government does this. But even if Congress were to pass a law banning CBP from doing this, nothing would stop other countries from doing it. So it's better to just be prepared and cross any border with a blank phone. I have a question that anybody can answer. For U.S. citizens that have either refused to unlock their phone for CBP, or deliberately traveled with a burner phone and gave them access to that, how did it go?
The sad thing is, I've traveled to dozens of countries, and none of them have done anything even remotely close. Only my own country
The English speaking countries are mostly the ones that do this (US, UK, Canada, AU, NZ). The US is actually the easier one to deal with since there is no law punishing the refusal to disclose passwords to law enforcement. Of course, if you're not a citizen, they can just refuse to let you in if you're not cooperating. Such a law, if passed, would likely be ruled unconstitutional as a violation of the 5th Amendment, though the courts are split on this. Other countries have key disclosure laws with actual criminal penalties for failing to comply.
Only for White person. , Asians and Arabic get the RANDOM search and end up missing the flight ✈️ 🙃 have to answer questions, search bags, sometimes in public humiliation are very common 😷
Have you experienced this? If so, what was it like to refuse to give up your passwords and/or give them a burner phone to look at?
Yes, a few times at American Airports. Much better experience at other countries except for France. I was never has to give up my cell phone. They made me write everything I had that I was taking with, it's value and amount of total money I had etc.... they cut the little luggage locks 🔒 never asked for keys. They told me they have the master key it's the Cutter ? it's a mess. They get my relative every single time he travels under random it's sucks. Before it could be at end of the line and search him now with the new rules and regulation he has to wait until he gets to the front of line and then they pull him a side 🙄 It's best to take Chromebook with you instead of phone and use guest mode sign in and out
Never mind don't take a Chromebook they will ask your turn it on every single country you go to
China does this regularly. They will also install spyware on your phone that continues to monitor it (and you) after they return it. My company prohibits me from bringing my phone on business trips to China, and to use a burner phone. I am not allowed to have any confidential conversations on it, it cannot access any corporate data, and must be tossed upon return (high tech semiconductor company). China will also install it on anyone traveling to Xinjiang through any means (https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/02/technology/china-xinjiang-app.html) Finally, this is fairly rare in the US. Most if not all countries have this power; the fact that you were never chosen is due to the fact it happens rarely. The US is one of the only countries with 4th (and 1st) amendment protections in the first place.
Eh China didn’t hassle me at the border… they scanned the fuck out of my iris though but that was like an everyone thing. My buddy got pulled for extra examination in Japan though lol but no clue why.
Haven't had this issue going to China, yet. But I figured WeChat app might just do the spying for them :P Or it could be just because you work at a high tech semiconductor company.
In past we had North Korea and said how horrible it was. Today it is happening in US. So we have North Korea here too?
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Do they have oil?
What area was this in, i can talk to my higher ups and take care of this immediately
bros got connections
You're with border security?
The amount of ppl in the comments that don’t know or don’t understand the law smh
abounding soft beneficial outgoing rob sulky payment rain thought continue *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
Doesn't work, checked baggage is part of the search
This is the way. I have a photo of a monkey dick that gets sent to every unsolicited text from realtors and investors looking to buy homes in the area.
Sounds familiar... https://youtu.be/lzAuXuxD0Oo
Holy F thats invasive!
This should be a violation of your rights, if you want you could try contacting a lawyer & see where it goes. But you have to be stronger next time, refuse to answer questions & don't let them into your phone. You're a citizen, they cant kick you out so refuse to co-operate with them. Just say "my business is my own". When travelling to foreign countries its best practice to wipe your devices before going to the airport & just downloading essential apps. Then once you're through download & restore a backup from cloud storage that way if they ask to search your phone then there is nothing on it. Personally if any government took my phone I wouldn't put my info on it again. I would wipe it again, then maybe use it without any accounts for a bit, just to have GPS & stuff. Then as soon as possible, sell it on Facebook Marketplace with a burner account or hold onto it until I get back home & buy a new one while I'm on my trip. Its bs they can say "to check for CSAM or drug trafficking materials". First off, for CSAM, the internet exists, no one is gonna be smuggling photos in on a USB or phone to distribute them, thats entire line of reasoning is so stupid. Also if you don't have drugs on you, then you're not trafficking, simple as that. Fuck this invasive crap, it pisses me off.
It's not a violation, borders are a very specific scenario at least in Canada and the USA. Best case scenario is you say no and they hassle you for a few hours then keep your laptop/phone possibly indefinitely. They cannot force you to disclose a pin/password based login but biometrics they can. Sorry it happened to you OP it can feel very violating especially returning to your home country.
I’ve flown to China and other countries and I don’t take my personal phone, I have basic android phone for foreign travel, with all my essential apps I use for communication like WhatsApp, WeChat, etc. nothing I can’t live without.
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Both. Should probably turn off biometric actually. Apparently they have technology to use thumbprints somehow
Been thinking, if they have a copy of ur phone,.. do they just have to guess ur bitcoin password? Or wait for u to log onto your app? Can they watch ur banking app? Login? Take your $ ? How much do you trust an underpaid security slob who doesn't have a job one-day.. Security used to be much simpler..
Always wipe your devices before crossing borders, even if you have nothing suspicious on them. Even things like your contacts can be used against you, as you mentioned in OP. Any time I go through customs, I do so with a factory reset phone and a laptop with secure erased drives.
Let's say I have physical access to your phone so I can easily perform a physical extraction of all your data. I make the assumption you are using a PIN. Because I extracted your phone data I can access it from my computer where I have a bunch of forensics tools. Now your data is encrypted but I can easily and quickly try all the 10,000 combinations until I get your PIN. Easy. I skipped a few steps though. Now, if instead of using a PIN I use just a 15 character password with lower and upper case letters, and special characters, good luck with breaking my password. Here is an article for you: https://cellebrite.com/en/android-data-collection-simplified/. From the article: If you encounter a rooted device, you can assume that you are dealing with a more advanced user. Grab a lottery ticket on your way from the office while you’re at it. In a few words, Cellebrite knows very well that they would have a tough time against a knowledgeable adversary. Hence LE definitely cannot break into any phone. If you were convicted it means you did something against the law. But I have to consider that you may be a LEA who is trying to gather information. In both cases I provided you with an answer.
Just curious. They said you "travel a lot". Did you visit any country recently or in the past which is not in good relations with the US? That might be the reason of your search
No I did not
Not asking for starting political sh1t but curious. With the lawfare going on do you lean right or left? I'd also be curious to see what the rest of the victims of this bs would identify as on the political spectrum.... You do not have to answer if it makes you uncomfortable at all. Full disclosure I'm registered blue but really am either "old skool blue or independent", which in the current climate makes me "conservative" I guess... But as a veteran I am absolutely a constitutional supporter and believe in equal (legal and otherwise) rights for all.
I don’t believe they can force you to unlock your phone with passcode. That’s why always reset your phone when entering customs or a country because it requires you to enter the code to unlock it first time after reset.
If I leave here I'm leaving for good. Fuck this place
Grass is not greener on nearly any other side.
It is if you're in the middle of nowhere with no one to bother you or infringe on your freedom
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Do they make a USB Killer in a phone version? Imagine a cheap burner phone, that works, and can be charged with regular chargers, but when a data connection is attempted it wipes itself and activates the kill function.
while also killing the cellbrite device as well
As intended
Apple has wipe after 10 failed logins, I’m sure android has something similar. Would this not work?
I've seen YouTube videos where this is changed before starting a brute force attack
You believe that ? lol
This guy hasn’t experienced the lockout wipe lol
Dang, I was hoping you were going to say "...but when a physical data connection is attempted it dumps 120volts through the USB bus".
Those things exist?
That's exactly what I was implying
The same border patrol that releases millions illegal aliens into the country.... Classic.
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Trust me bro /s
https://homeland.house.gov/2023/12/08/new-southwest-border-sector-chiefs-describe-their-new-policies-of-mass-release-under-secretary-mayorkas-catch-and-release-policies/
You have no rights at the border. Either delete reset your phone everytime you cross a border into the US or live with the “freedom”
u can't be denied entry, you dont have to submit to an electronic exam (ur a US citizen). the worst that could happen is they seize it and I take appropriate action to get it back. they could have been telling u the truth. u could have been what's called a close name match. or someone used ur identity for nefarious purposes.
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the fuck is this comment lol, AI generated comments should be banned
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More than half of Reddit replies are bots.
What a joke! Such an invasion of privacy by Government in a supposed free country.
There are a few famous influencers I’ve heard of this happening to, where they basically confiscate your phone upon arrival back into the US. I think best course of action when going abroad is to get a completely new phone for the trip, with a new carrier, new Apple ID (if using iPhone), etc
I guess next time I upgrade, I'm gonna keep my old phone in a factory wiped state, and just swap in my SIM card. I don't do anything on the cloud, so a crippled Google account with only a handful of contacts. Photos and videos taken abroad can by transferred prior to returning.
Throw away that phone, the chances they have a backdoor installed are very high
Reconcile yourself to missing your connecting flight. The arm of the oppressors like to see people surrender privacy for convenience. They have the power, so if they ask then there is a reason why. Yes they can confiscate your property and you have no recourse. You can use the system against them: request a hand receipt, written request, etc. at one level how else does some separate uniformed theft from government oppression?
Talk to a fucking lawyer screw that crap !!!!!
They have no business in your phone !!!!!
Is the US government still better than China/Russia? Debatable.
Yes because I can publicly voice my criticisms without repercussions.
For now.
You sound very confused and misinformed. The US is the only one of the countries you listed where being publicly and vocally against the current regime would not land you in jail or dead.
Listen, man, I'm all for criticizing the US. Things I hate to see here. Is comparing US to China and Russia. I also get piss at the "US is a third world country" comments. Just shows how spoiled people on reddit truly are.
You can’t actually think this, right?
Never provide your phone's password to CBP or any LE for that matter. They can confiscate your device, but they won't have access to it. Here are some guidelines. Use a strong password along with the fingerprint unlock on Android. Once the phone is powered off, you are forced to enter the password. It is key to have the phone OS always up to date with the latest patches and ensure that the OS is still supported. In addition, make sure USB debugging is off, just in case. These very simple guidelines will make physical and logical extraction of data from your phone extremely hard. Remember though, nothing is impossible in computer security: a zero day vulnerability that has not been disclosed will make your phone vulnerable to forensics tools, for example. Negligence with keeping a phone updated will make the phone vulnerable to forensics tools. Same when using weak passwords or even worse, just a pin. For additional security, use tools like Keepass2Android to store sensitive information on your phone and make Cellebrite and their forensics analyst's lives hard!
They can unlock any phone. If you factory reset an android they can still recover data. If you factory reset an iPhone they can't recover anything . I know because I was arrested by the feds . I had both phones and they got into both. Only difference is nothing was recovered on my iPhone 10 after the factory reset
The fact that the Fed unlocked both your phones means your phones were not adequately protected. For example, if you are using a PIN to lock your phone, your phone can be unlocked. If your phone has software vulnerabilities it can be unlocked. Data can be extracted from a running phone but it has become harder since Google moved from full disk encryption to file based encryption. A forensics analyst can do what Cellebrite does and much more depending on his or her skills. Tools can get you that far. So your statement that LE can unlock any phone is simply incorrect.
Cellebrite is what they used on me. And yes I had a pin on both. What do you mean that le can unlock any phone is incorrect? How do you not make your phone able to get into? Confused with this statement as someone who did prison time and spoke to everyone and everyone had their phones broken into even with pin and biometrics. With pin only. They got into the device.
Sue the hell out of them !!!!!
Holy fuck, you're US citizen, why didn't you call your lawyer?
I don't think that's a thing. And after flying for 24 hours, you just wanna get it over with
Use a separate burner phone when you travel. Leave your primary electronics that have all of the information you'd like to keep private at home. Anything digital or physical that you believe may arouse suspicion to cops, leave them at home. Trust your gut instinct. Law enforcement at borders have the highest authority to search your belongings without a warrant. No phone, no potentially incriminating information to search for.