Border searches -- Legal?

[Hawkmoon]

https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2016-08-28/your-privacy-doesn-t-matter-at-the-border?ref=yfp

I am not a lawyer, but I found this article and the question it raises to be very interesting. IMHO there's a huge difference between a "ship or vessel" and ... a cell phone.

[never_retreat]

I think if they insisted on taking my phone I would smash it on the nearest hard object.
Verizon warranty will cover it and they get to be butthurt.

[dogmush]

I have taken to cleaning everything I like off my phone and doing a factory reset before I travel overseas.

It cleans up my phone from random apps I don't use anymore, it makes sure if my phone gets jacked, cloned, or lost while I'm in Africa or southeast Asia my banking apps are not still on there, nor are any of my e-mails, and if gives the kgb a big finger when they paw through it. (They did after the Africa vacation.)

Laptops are more troublesome.

I also fully expect obvious encryption to be outlawed at the border soon.

Rev can probably talk more knowledgeably about this.

[Firethorn]

Meh....

Encrypted rar, renamed .dll, stuck in the system directory with all the other .dll files.

[cordex]

Meh....

Encrypted rar, renamed .dll, stuck in the system directory with all the other .dll files.

If you are worried about Aunt Mildred from finding your midget porn then this technique will work nicely. If you are worried about a national security apparatus, someone competent or an automated routine that someone competent has designed then this advice is not sufficient.

1. A routine to compare every file extension with the actual file header is one of the first things that gets run in a computer forensics environment.
2. Your file with a modified date of today or today-1 is sitting in a folder with files last modified six years ago.
3. How large is your "secret" DLL file compared to the rest of them?

[RoadKingLarry]

If you are worried about Aunt Mildred from finding your midget porn then this technique will work nicely. If you are worried about a national security apparatus, someone competent or an automated routine that someone competent has designed then this advice is not sufficient.

1. A routine to compare every file extension with the actual file header is one of the first things that gets run in a computer forensics environment.
2. Your file with a modified date of today or today-1 is sitting in a folder with files last modified six years ago.
3. How large is your "secret" DLL file compared to the rest of them?

You keep using that word, I don't think it means what the government thinks it means.

[KD5NRH]

If you are worried about Aunt Mildred from finding your midget porn then this technique will work nicely. If you are worried about a national security apparatus, someone competent or an automated routine that someone competent has designed then this advice is not sufficient.

The longer they spend decrypting my backup copy of /usr/share/dict/* the better.

For bonus points, pipe it through figlet too.

[T.O.M.]

My phone is only for communication and entertainment. Same for my tablet. I don't save passwords or account information.  Honestly, of late I tend to do anything secure on my desktop with good old-fashioned hard line connections from my home office.  Avoids the problem.

As to the legality of border searches, got to remember that there are three kinds of law...(1) the written law, (2) the law of prior decisions, and (3) the law of the judge in front of you.  Sometimes, the last one is the only one that matters, because the other two might only help in the appeal.

[Firethorn]

1. A routine to compare every file extension with the actual file header is one of the first things that gets run in a computer forensics environment.
2. Your file with a modified date of today or today-1 is sitting in a folder with files last modified six years ago.
3. How large is your "secret" DLL file compared to the rest of them?

1.  To date, border "checks" have not been proper forensic analysis.
2.  I know how to change modification dates.  Besides, with regular patching, the dates on the files will be all over the place.
3.  Roughly the same size.  I'm not trying to hide my midget porn videos.  Text documents, on the other hand...
4.  If I really want to, I have the tools to make it into an actual DLL.

[Nick1911]

Encrypted data crosses all over the net constantly.  Little reason to keep properly encrypted information stored locally if the threat of physical inspection is real, and the data warrants efforts to avoid such inspection.  Stick it on a server somewhere, get to it when you need it.

[RevDisk]

I am not a lawyer, but I found this article and the question it raises to be very interesting. IMHO there's a huge difference between a "ship or vessel" and ... a cell phone.

It's legal. Both in the sense that our legal system permits it and that the Constitution says it is ok. I know, rare that. The Constitution gives virtually unlimited authority to the government over the borders. They're probably not allowed to torture or kill you without due process, but they can search anything to their hearts content. It's been that way since the start of the country, AFAIK. US isn't the only country with that on the books either.

Only carry sterile electronics. If it leaves your possession, treat it as compromised. Connect remotely to US servers to get any data. Don't try cute encryption games. Remember rubber hose or "contempt of court" cryptoanalysis still works. Keep your data in a safe place and RDP/VPN/whatever to it when outside the country. Assume any passwords used have been compromised and change those as well. FORMAT YOUR DEVICES AFTER YOU RETURN. Even then, remember that it is possible to poison firmware or insert physical bugs into hardware. Some devices contain internal USB ports. It's not hard to insert a thumb drive into one either.

This isn't academic. Nearly every company I know had to issue guidance similar to above. China plays espionage games by trying to steal or bug business laptops all the time.

[cordex]

1.  To date, border "checks" have not been proper forensic analysis.
2.  I know how to change modification dates.  Besides, with regular patching, the dates on the files will be all over the place.
3.  Roughly the same size.  I'm not trying to hide my midget porn videos.  Text documents, on the other hand...
4.  If I really want to, I have the tools to make it into an actual DLL.

1. If the check is brief enough it won't find a document entitled "my ISIS terror plans to kill the president.txt". If they have time or opportunity to pull data or run applications then your technique is useless.
2. Yes, dates can be changed but you didn't mention that.
3. What text documents are you trying to hide?
4. Added complication for no benefit over other more reliable techniques.