
US Border Officers Don’t Always Delete Collected Traveler Data - toufiqbarhamov
https://www.engadget.com/2018/12/11/cbp-officers-fail-to-delete-traveler-data/
======
Zak
The authority to conduct such searches should simply be removed. Border
searches are nominally for the purpose of preventing the importation of
something that's illegal to import, but it's trivial to transfer information
that's illegal to import (e.g. child pornography) over the internet instead.

~~~
laken

      Border searches are nominally for the purpose of
      preventing the importation of something that's
      illegal to import
    

_You_ can be illegal to import if you don't have authorization to
work/visit/marry/etc. with your visa. Generally, that's what these phone
searches are for -- if they think you're lying about the reason why you're
visiting, they will search your phone's messages quite often. You see it all
the time on the US CBP television program (can be found on Netflix).

~~~
projectramo
This would seem more plausible if the searches were only restricted to people
who only had single intent visas. Is that the case?

I haven't seen the program but it seems hard to believe that enough people
would have a clear message about their intent in their email to make this
program worth it. You'd have to go through 1000s of regular people to find the
one odd person who contradicted themselves in an email. "Don't worry bud. I am
pretending to go as a tourist but will actually look for a job and then apply
for a work visa! haha!"

~~~
laken
They don't right off the bat search your phone. Rather it's if the questions
they ask don't match up exactly, or you mention other red flags. Canada and a
few other countries do it too.

It's not forced, as if you decline, you'll just be denied entry. You could
consider that forced, but at that point, the officer has already decided that
he doesn't believe you, and you're not entering the US until you can prove it.

It's actually very common for people to come in on a tourist visa and find
work. They figure out if you're likely to do that when they ask "what do you
do for a living?," "do you have any family in the US," "how much money do you
currently have access to?," or if you're staying for longer than they deem
reasonable, like a 90 day vacation with $1000 in your bank account.

If they don't believe your answers, they ask for proof, like a return ticket,
or possibly your text messages/emails. They can call contacts that you said
you were going to visit too.

The show has shown a few successful findings from emails, people with emails
from clients in the US arranging in-person visits (regarding contractors who
can't work in the US) are common. As are people trying to permanently
immigrate illegally, as they talk with their family in the US their plans via
SMS.

I'm not trying to argue for this practice, and I'm all for making borders less
closed off and open. I'm just saying the justification given by the government
for it. Especially since the current administration is hard-set on stopping
illegal immigration, and the majority of illegal immigrants actually come here
legally, and overstay and work illegally.

------
mtnGoat
neither do the people that work at most of the cell phone stores(verizon,
spring, etc)... i knew a couple guys that worked at them and they all were in
cahoots to steal private photos from female owned cameras. and then shared
them in a massive repo.

this is why i dont let anyone touch my tech.

~~~
jabberthemutt
Please blow that whistle loud and clear.

~~~
mtnGoat
one was/is a multi-state regional manager. these companies don't want this
stuff to make the light of day, so even if you reported it, they would bury
it. And I have no faith in law enforcement to do anything about it, they are
not tech savvy enough to know where to begin.

screwed up world. keep your privacy game tight!

~~~
gjs278
uh huh. I don't believe you. it would be trivial to name the company right
now. and the police are not stupid, it would be exceedingly easy to
investigate this.

~~~
mtnGoat
clearly you don't understand the incompetence of small town law enforcement,
nor their gross lack of technical abilities and resources.

------
Drdrdrq
As someone who has "nothing to hide", the prospect of such search is why I
don't consider travelling to USA a possibility. Or at least not with my phone
/ laptop.

------
pleasecalllater
What a surprise, right?

~~~
leibwiht
I am absolutely SHOCKED, I did not expect this in a million years. Why would I
ever have any reason to believe the government isn't telling me the truth?
And, as a law-abiding citizen, I can't imagine what they'd even want with it
anyway. This must have been an honest mistake.

~~~
pleasecalllater
I think we should tell them that we are really sorry about all that. We should
buy them flowers.

------
manicdee
I’d be more surprised if anyone in customs/border security actually deleted
the collected data. Deleting collected data would imply that they were
competent and procedures were being followed, or that procedures exist.

------
BLKNSLVR
There's unlikely to be any real control put on this, so assuming that this is
"a new normal" we need to work out how best to deal with it. I found a couple
of articles which cover some precautions but aren't quite "paranoid enough"
(warning: both of these articles showed me full-paged ads):

[https://www.computerworld.com/article/3209648/android/the-
pa...](https://www.computerworld.com/article/3209648/android/the-paranoid-
android-travelers-data-protection-checklist.html)

[https://www.wired.com/2017/02/guide-getting-past-customs-
dig...](https://www.wired.com/2017/02/guide-getting-past-customs-digital-
privacy-intact/)

We need a nice, clean, to-the-point github readme style list. Off the top of
my head:

\- Backup contents of device to two places, confirm both, delete it all from
device

\- Record all personal accounts on the phone, make sure the
login/email/passwords are known, then remove them all

\- Factory reset the device (if asked about why it's "blank", say that you
bought it recently, specifically for the trip. Work out some reasonable
excuse)

\- Create a throwaway account, set that up as the only account on the phone

\- Encrypt the device

\- Don't use biometric unlocks

\- Use a relatively simple passcode that isn't related to any of the ones you
may regularly use (unless you already have a regularly used "burner" passcode)

\- Remove your local / home sim card before going through customs (if asked,
you're planning to buy one that's local to the country you're visiting)

\- Any data that you may need to get back on to your phone once you're through
customs should be made available somewhere online and accessible via
credentials you can either remember or have stored elsewhere. Possibly through
a chain of dependence such as remember the credentials to download the VPN
config, then access further documents / details via the VPN.

I fundamentally treat phones and laptops as disposable devices so that, if
they're lost or stolen there should be minimal life impact. If they're the
only store of photos of your kids precious milestones, then you're doing it
wrong (you're also probably not someone suspicious, but in that case you
shouldn't be subjected to government departments stealing said photos).

~~~
tzs
> Factory reset the device (if asked about why it's "blank", say that you
> bought it recently, specifically for the trip. Work out some reasonable
> excuse)

Or simply say that you factory reset it because you are traveling to a foreign
country, and (1) don't want to risk that you have some app installed that is
legal here but not there, and (2) you do not trust the carriers or government
there to respect your privacy.

------
rue
Completely by accident. There was never any intent to mine that information,
no sir.

~~~
isp
Not wittingly.

~~~
ggggtez
Perhaps, but perhaps not. If you've followed the news since 2001, you'll find
that improper deletion of data is a theme that goes back a long time to the
point where you should really question whether it's really an accident or the
result of purposeful lack-of-enforcement of policy.

~~~
deogeo
I believe that was a reference to James Clapper's perjury:
[https://abcnews.go.com/US/americas-top-spy-james-clapper-
mad...](https://abcnews.go.com/US/americas-top-spy-james-clapper-made-mistake-
lie/story?id=37003608)

~~~
ggggtez
One of many things, yes. Also, see any news story circa 2013 and the Edward
Snowden leaks. In more recent and relevant histoy, the border security program
is fairly well established to have been rolled out half-baked with the
intention of making it a semi-legal limbo for all involved.

So the idea that they are playing loose with the rules on purpose based on
recommendations from the top seems warranted.

