Week 7: Cell Phone Border Searches

Recently, the U.S. government has been searching more and more electronic devices at the border. These include cell phones, tablets, and laptops. Generally, citizens are protected from searches like these, but the laws are weakened in the case of the U.S. borders. It is concerning to see this happening more frequently as personal electronic devices, especially cell phones, contain a very large amount of personal data on them. Also, you are unlikely to be able to deny the search and still reach your destination. You may be detained and questioned further if you do not allow the border agents to search your devices. They may request to search your device or ask for the password. They could even copy data off the device and store it for later investigations. This is a huge privacy violation and your should protect yourself from these searches. Bring as few personal electronic devices as possible when travelling through borders. Every device is subject to search. For the devices you do bring, remove as much personal data as possible. On your cell phone, you should offload pictures, documents, sign out of email accounts. Even consider factory resetting the device as long as you have it backed up. You could even consider keeping a second phone with no personal information in it for this sole purpose. There is not very much you can do to combat this right now besides the steps above. As mass surveillance becomes more prominent, we will have to find new and innovative ways to ensure it is not violating the rights of U.S. citizens.

https://www.eff.org/wp/digital-privacy-us-border-2017