If you think your rights were violated, the EFF is here to assist. For everyone else, following the steps in this article should protect you from exposing sensitive data to border agents. Remember that only citizens are exempt from requirements to reveal data or passwords without potentially serious consequences. Find more tips on protecting your computer here. It means that you can reduce the risk of someone accessing sensitive data, even in case of compromised cloud accounts. Services such as boxcryptor, Cryptomator, or Sookasa offer an extra level of security by encrypting files that are placed into specially-designated folders. However, there are some extra precautions you should take when using cloud-based file storage. Keeping sensitive files off your local device is a great way to protect your data when crossing borders. An added advantage is that should your device get lost or stolen in transit it’s much cheaper to replace than a top-of-the-line iPhone or MacBook Pro. Some security-conscious travellers also use a ‘ burner’ phone or laptop. Remember that anything stored on Google’s Cloud services will remain when you perform a factory reset. This method ensures that authorities cannot use special software to recover files deleted in a quick format. This means that your hard drive is first wiped and then overwritten. If you decide to take this risk, then the best method is ‘secure formatting’. Ensure your data is back up in a secure cloud or a device you’re not travelling with.īear in mind that a wiped device may cause the border agent to be suspicious. This Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) guide gives step-by-step instructions on wiping data from your computer. Back up your data or bring a burnerĪs mentioned in our blog on protecting your device while travelling, a simple way to prevent your sensitive data is not to have any on the device.įor this reason, we recommend you back up your data and then wipe or perform a factory reset of your device before crossing the border. In general, always avoid bad password habits. You could therefore store the master password database (if it is not auto-synced with an online service) in a secure email service like Mailfence. In this case, it might be a good idea not to have these password management apps installed on your devices when crossing the border. However, an agent could ask you for this master password, just like they could ask to access any app. It uses a master password to access the others (alongside 2FA). This kind of app stores lengthy and difficult to remember passwords for your various accounts. If you use a password management app, which we recommend, you will genuinely not know your passwords. You can easily re-download these apps once you are safely through the border crossing process. A good start is removing social media apps like Facebook, LinkedIn, and WhatsApp from your phone. If you don’t want to expose your passwords or data to border agents, your best bet is not to have access to this information on your devices.

However, border agents have the right to refuse entry if you fail to cooperate.

Non-citizens do not technically have to give up passwords or encryption keys. Travellers with a visa can be denied entry by agents. Failure to cooperate with agents can cause legal permanent residents to have their status scrutinized and possibly jeopardized. As a citizen, you will not be refused to enter, but your devices may be taken from you for some hours in case you refuse to collaborate. Your rights at the border depend on whether or not you are a citizen of the country you enter. When suspicious, they can even legally make a copy of them and/or detain them for a period of time. įirst of all, it’s important to be aware that border agents have the right to search your electronic devices, just like they do with your luggage. Protecting your data when crossing borders is different than protecting your data or devices from home, as it’s a specific context. Therefore, it is critical to understand what situations you may encounter and to plan ahead.

You might as well want to protect your data just for the sake of it. There are several professions that would want to keep their data hidden from search: doctors, lawyers, scientists, government officials, and business people with access to sensitive data.

Sookasa encrypted hard drive