Give the password to a trusted third party such as your spouse or IT manager. While you’re at it, change any passwords that are easy to guess, easy to remember or are duplicates.īefore leaving home, generate a new master password for your password manager that is difficult to guess and difficult to remember. What happens if they simply demand your login credentials? Protecting your cloud data requires a more sophisticated strategy.įirst, add all of your passwords to a password manager such as LastPass, KeePass or Dashlane. However, border agents do not need your device to access your online accounts. You can access your data from the cloud at your destination. There should be nothing for them to find. If a border agent asks you to unlock your device, simply do so and hand it over. Legally-purchased entertainment should be fine, but do not sync your contacts, calendar, email, social media apps, or anything that requires a password. Next, cross the border with no or clean devices. While these services are not foolproof, they significantly increase the difficulty of accessing your data. Use another service like Boxcryptor, Cryptomator or Sookasa to protect your data such that neither the storage provider nor government agencies can read it. ![]() To protect your privacy when travelling, here’s what you can do.įirst, use a cloud-based service such as Dropbox, Google Drive, OneDrive or Box.com to backup all of your data. Second, recognise that there are two distinct threats:ġ) Border agents extracting private or sensitive data from devices (phone, tablet, laptop, camera, USB drive, SIM card, etc.) that you are carrying.Ģ) Border agents compelling you to disclose your passwords, or extracting your passwords from your devices. So you need a strategy where you can fully cooperate without disclosing private data or acting suspicious. What you can doįirst, recognise that lying to a border agent (including giving them fake accounts) or obstructing their investigation will land you in serious trouble, and that agents have sweeping power to deny entry to the US. ![]() 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.
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