![]() ![]() What do you do if border agents simply ask for your Facebook password?Īnd leaving your phone at home, wiping your devices and deactivating your social media will only increase suspicion. ![]() Leaving your devices at home or securely wiping them before travelling is ineffective if all of your data is in the cloud and accessible from any device. This problem cannot be solved through normal cybersecurity countermeasures.Įncryption, passwords and two-factor authentication are useless if someone intimidates you into revealing your passwords. Providing such privileged information to border agents may be illegal.ģ) In the wake of revelations from Chelsea Manning and Edward Snowden, we have good reason to distrust the US government’s intentions for our data. For example, your lawyer might be carrying documents subject to attorney-client privilege. Giving border agents access to your devices and accounts is problematic for three reasons:ġ) It violates the privacy of not only you but also your friends, family, colleagues and anyone else who has shared private messages, pictures, videos or data with you.Ģ) Doctors, lawyers, scientists, government officials and many business people’s devices contain sensitive data. Visitors need a totally different strategy to protect their private information. However, these steps only apply to US citizens. Technology pundits have already recommended steps to prevent privacy intrusion at the US border, including leaving your phone at home, encrypting your hard drive and enabling two-factor authentication. Intimidating travellers into revealing passwords is a much greater invasion of privacy than inspecting their belongings for contraband. Travellers are also reporting border agents reviewing their Facebook feeds, while the Department of Homeland Security considers requiring social media passwords as a condition of entry. On January 30 – three days after US President Donald Trump signed an executive order restricting immigration from several predominantly Muslim countries – an American scientist employed by NASA was detained at the US border until he relinquished his phone and PIN to border agents. What do you do if a border official asks for your phone PIN? Ervins Strauhmanis/Flickr, CC BY-SA ![]()
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