We all read about the attempts to charge a US Citizen for destruction of evidence for using the distress pin on his GOS phone. So what is safe to do if you know you will be traveling internationally? Are people getting a burner phone and leaving their normal phone at home? What’s to stop you from saying you dont have a phone if you are stopped at a border crossing?
I’d probably use a burner. Out of principle.
But! I think it is important to keep the risk in perspective too. For most ppl, the chance is tiny. Could happen. Almost certainly won’t. There are about 55K device searches / yr, and most of those are shallow. Only a few were deep. That sounds like a lot, until you realize there are 260 million international travelers / yr. Edit -> for the USA alone. That’s around 0.02% who even get the shallow search.
Ofc the risk may be a LOT higher for certain ppl. Reporters say. So keep that in mind too. Assess your own risk with open eyes! For some it will be far more than 0.02%. You’re a reporter, better have your shit sorted! But that also means the risk is lower than 0.02% for the rest.
Tiny chance for most ppl, But nothing wrong with being careful out of principle.
I like this point, and kinda want to dig in. What are the risks for journalists? I assume contact information and notes they’ve taken about potential stories. Chats. Passwords to those applications. Is it the same for the activist person?
What are other common risk profiles people might need to think about?
I care about it in principle, but also they’re making up the rules as they go.
IMO that’s a big one b/c it can dox sources.
Frankly I think most random internet activists won’t be bothered at airports. But selected ones seen as “a problem” might be. They’d have to worry about their social graph. Who they communicate with, are ppl with similar views.
Also both journalists and activitists have to worry about fishing expeditions. “Give me six lines written by the most honest man in the world, and I will find enough in them to hang him.” - Richelieu.