LONDON (AP) 鈥� Planning an international trip? Travelers should prepare for the possibility of extra scrutiny of their phones when crossing borders, especially when entering the United States.
The Canadian government warned travelers in a recent that U.S. border agents are entitled to search your electronic devices and 鈥渄on鈥檛 need to provide a reason when requesting a password to open your device.鈥�
Some recent cases have made travelers nervous about their privacy, such as when a Brown University professor with a U.S. visa to Lebanon after border agents found a photo of Hezbollah鈥檚 leader on her phone.
鈥淲hile 100% privacy may be impossible in these situations, there are a few things you can easily do that make it much harder for someone to see your private data even with physical access to your device,鈥� said Patricia Egger, head of security at encrypted service Proton Mail.
Here are tips on protecting your device privacy while travelling:
What should I do before I set off?
Experts say the best strategy is to reduce the amount of information you鈥檙e carrying while traveling.
If possible, leave your phone at home. If you need one on your trip, borrow a tactic used by corporate executives looking to avoid hackers: get a temporary or 鈥渂urner鈥� device. It can contain just the information you need for your trip. Download anything else from the cloud when you need it.
If you have to bring your phone or laptop, upload sensitive information to a cloud storage service that uses end-to-end encryption, then delete the originals from your device.
Also, encrypt your phone or laptop鈥檚 storage drive and protect it with a strong password. Be aware this is different from merely having a device passcode lock, which is more easily cracked, or the end-to-end encryption on your favorite communication platforms.
Turn off fingerprint or facial recognition features and use the PIN or passcode instead.
What kind of search will be done at borders?
There are two kinds of searches, according to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection website.
In a basic search, an officer scrolls through your phone鈥檚 photos, emails, apps and files. No suspicion of wrongdoing is needed to conduct this type of search.
In an advanced search, the contents of your device could be copied for analysis. But a senior manager needs to sign off and there needs to be 鈥渞easonable suspicion鈥� of a legal violation, except if there鈥檚 any concern for national security, according to the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF).
Who鈥檚 at risk of getting searched and what are they looking for?
鈥淚t鈥檚 hard to say,鈥� says Sophia Cope, senior staff attorney at the EFF, which offers an extensive online guide to border privacy. Warrants are not needed to inspect devices belonging to anyone entering the country.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents carried out a total of more than 47,000 electronic device searches last year, up tenfold from .
Basic searches 鈥渃an be for no reason at all, totally random, or based on a mere hunch about someone 鈥� maybe based on how they look or an answer they gave to a preliminary question,鈥� said Cope.
Travel history can also be relevant, for example, if a traveler originates from someplace where terrorism, drug trafficking, or child sex tourism is common, she said. Border agents can also search devices 鈥渁t the behest鈥� of other agencies like the FBI or if they鈥檙e associated with someone else of interest, such as a journalist鈥檚 source, a business associate or a family member.
What should I do when I get to the border?
Best to power off your devices when you touch down.
Under current policy, U.S. border agents are only allowed to look at information stored on the device, and not anything that鈥檚 kept in the cloud. So if you have to leave your phone on, make sure it鈥檚 kept in airplane mode or otherwise disconnected from the internet by Wi-Fi or cellular data.
鈥淏efore crossing the border, put your device in airplane mode to ensure remote files don鈥檛 get downloaded accidentally,鈥� the Canadian government warns.
But keep in mind there might be cached data that still remains on your phone, such as files in the trash that haven鈥檛 been emptied.
What if I refuse?
American citizens can鈥檛 be denied entry to the United States for refusing to consent to device searches. The same should apply to lawful permanent residents such as green card holders, the American Civil Liberties Union says.
But agents can make things difficult if they鈥檙e refused. Travelers could be questioned, detained temporarily or have their devices seized and not returned for days or even weeks, rights groups say.
Foreign travelers could be turned back if they say no.
If you鈥檙e forced to unlock your device, Egger advises that 鈥渨here you can, log in yourself rather than divulging any PINs or passwords, and if forced to share passwords, change them as soon as you can.鈥�
Experts say the reason you should not use your device鈥檚 fingerprint or facial recognition feature is that it鈥檚 easier to compel you to unlock your device with biometrics. A border agent could simply hold your phone up to your face or force you to press your finger onto your device. There are also fears that police could use fingerprints stored on government databases.
Powering off your devices is another way to protect against sophisticated attacks in case you don鈥檛 consent to a search.
Most modern phones and some laptops encrypt their data using a strong cryptographic keys only accessible when the user unlocks it with the passcode, said Will Greenberg, the EFF鈥檚 senior staff technologist.
If the device is locked but not turned off, the key remains loaded on the device鈥檚 memory. Powerful hacking tools made by companies like Cellebrite can recover the key and decipher the data.
But if the device is off, the key is unloaded and can鈥檛 be accessed until it鈥檚 turned on again and unlocked with the passcode.
鈥淭his is why a border agent can鈥檛 simply turn a device on to use a tool like Cellebrite,鈥� Greenberg said.
What about social media?
To be on the safe side, delete your social media apps and reinstall them later. Even though content is mainly stored on a social media company鈥檚 servers, Cope says some posts or images might remain on your phone鈥檚 memory cache and therefore viewable even in airplane mode.
What else can be searched?
It鈥檚 not just phones and laptops. Digital cameras, smartwatches, tablets, external hard drives and other electronic devices can be searched.
What not to do?
Some tactics might backfire. If you鈥檙e tempted to completely wipe your phone or laptop hard drive before you travel, experts warn it could raise scrutiny.
鈥淚f detected by a border agent, the fact that you wiped your hard drive may prompt the agent to ask why you did so,鈥� the EFF鈥檚 guide says. 鈥淓ven traveling without devices or data that most travelers typically have could attract suspicion and questions.鈥�
Also don鈥檛 try to hide information on your device, because border agents could find out, the group says. 鈥淟ying to border agents can be a serious crime, and the agents may take a very broad view of what constitutes lying,鈥� it says.
What about other destinations?
Check local laws of your destination before you travel. For example, Britain鈥檚 counterterrorism law allows police to demand that people passing through the country鈥檚 border hand over devices along with passwords and PINs. If they refuse, they can be charged with terrorism.
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Kelvin Chan, The Associated Press
