Those of you riding across the border, remember to scrub your electronic devices

[FiReSTaRT]

Considering how many of us own pocket computers that pass as cell phones and some of us take them while riding, this is a very important thing to remember. You never know if you have content that may be illegal (hell, an mp3 could land you in hot water if the DHS guy is being a dick), so it's better to be safe than sorry. They have so many laws on the books that they can't keep count. While this article is more from a legal professional's standpoint, it applies to any normal citizen.
http://www.cba.org/cba/practicelink/tayp/laptopborder.aspx

Do you regularly travel to the U.S. on business? If you take confidential information of any kind with you, take heed: US policy allows offers of Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to search and confiscate computers, phones, personal digital assistants, cameras, digital music players and other data-storing devices. Operating under the U.S. Policy Regarding Border Search of Information, agents have also downloaded the contents of entire computer hard drives and other storage media for later review. (Note: similar situations occur at the borders of other countries as well.)

Also remember that even a minor traffic infraction can be considered "an arrestable offense" and the cop can search your personal data (even though you're not required to give him the password to access your computer/cell). Read this article and keep it in mind next time you wanna hit the Gap

 

[DJM]

I cross the border regularly, 4-5 times a month.

Best method for me is to use a second clean hard drive for my laptop and a clean netbook for travel. SDCards are swapped on my smartphone. Same thing with my wife's equip. and my son's PSP.

No music, no movies, no e-books or software that might lack proof of purchase.
No torrent programs, hacktools, game or software cracks.

I'd rather be paranoid then have to deal with US Border Services.

 

[rukus]

i have a netbook for travel, and a yankee pay as you go phone for when i go over.

 

[FiReSTaRT]

In this case, you're not being paranoid.. Just properly prudent.. Hell, Michigan police have a tool that can completely copy the contents of a i-phone or an android device (even the encrypted stuff)... When the EFF asked them for a report on the extent of the routine scanning, they tried to bill them $550,000 for it "to cover the costs of gathering the data." Makes you wonder what they have at the border. Having met some people working for the DHS, I wouldn't want any of them anywhere near my banking information. Fortunately, being a GNU/Linux user, it's stupid easy to reinstall the OS and even easier to get all of my data and settings back from a local backup.

 

[reciprocity]

In this case, you're not being paranoid.. Just properly prudent.. Hell, Michigan police have a tool that can completely copy the contents of a i-phone or an android device (even the encrypted stuff)... When the EFF asked them for a report on the extent of the routine scanning, they tried to bill them $550,000 for it "to cover the costs of gathering the data." Makes you wonder what they have at the border. Having met some people working for the DHS, I wouldn't want any of them anywhere near my banking information. Fortunately, being a GNU/Linux user, it's stupid easy to reinstall the OS and even easier to get all of my data and settings back from a local backup.

Its odd how paranoid you are with this stuff, yet when you cross the border with people, you have to be angrily persuaded to declare purchases you make while with them(or did you forget about the time you came across with me?)

 

[Vlad]

TrueCrypt

 

[GayManLoveIsOK]

never had any of my "tech gear" confiscated, but it's all password protected and encrypted...so i don't lose sleep...but then i don't really have any red flags on my name as is...

 

[FiReSTaRT]

Its odd how paranoid you are with this stuff, yet when you cross the border with people, you have to be angrily persuaded to declare purchases you make while with them(or did you forget about the time you came across with me?)

Angrily persuaded? I spent under $50... IIRC, it was only a couple of filters because they only had 2-3 ST7317's on the shelves and no T6. I would have had no issues with declaring the stuff under those circumstances. You might have been thinking of someone else. My only possible glitch was the passport that went through the wash cycle, but it turned out to be a non-issue, especially after drying on the dash.
In any case, even if that was true, it would have been highly irrelevant to this discussion because there is a difference between declaring a few bucks worth of purchases to your own government and having all of your personal data taken for whatever reason by a foreign government. Hell, I don't want to give my own government my personal data. I like the idea of my private life staying private.

 

[FiReSTaRT]

never had any of my "tech gear" confiscated, but it's all password protected and encrypted...so i don't lose sleep...but then i don't really have any red flags on my name as is...

When we went there on business, we got specifically instructed to leave our laptops, cell phones, media players and cameras in the truck. I'm sure it wasn't to make the truck look pretty.

 

[reciprocity]

Angrily persuaded? I spent under $50... IIRC, it was only a couple of filters because they only had 2-3 ST7317's on the shelves and no T6. I would have had no issues with declaring the stuff under those circumstances. You might have been thinking of someone else. My only possible glitch was the passport that went through the wash cycle, but it turned out to be a non-issue, especially after drying on the dash.
In any case, even if that was true, it would have been highly irrelevant to this discussion because there is a difference between declaring a few bucks worth of purchases to your own government and having all of your personal data taken for whatever reason by a foreign government. Hell, I don't want to give my own government my personal data. I like the idea of my private life staying private.

it wasn't someone else, you were in MY vehicle, planning NOT to declare items you purchase and put up a fuss when I said you must declare the items.

I've got a pretty good memory for this sort of thing, with the amount of time I spend in the US, I take the crossing and my very high level of security clearance quite seriously.

I know what the situation was as it's a topic of discussion with others and the reason you've not been invited back to that particular location when others have.

With the amount of ranting you do on this subject, I thought others might like to know how little regard you had for the other people you were traveling with in this situation.

Anyone thinking of traveling with you should be aware of this.

 

[DJM]

Being in a border city I've heard countless stories of friends and acquaintances getting royally fooked over non-disclosure incidents. A guy at work is flagged for secondary every time he crosses back into Canada because he didn't declare 5 packs of smokes stuffed in his jacket. He and his buddy bought a carton at duty-free for the weekend before crossing into USA and didn't consume all of it. Big mistake was trying to bring them back without declaration. Second mistake was acting as if he didn't know it was wrong.

Nothing is worth the hassle. Bring only the bare necessities into the USA and know the rules and regs.

 

[FiReSTaRT]

If you wanna get into the details of THAT situation, fine.. It wasn't about planning to declare these items, it was about purchasing the items in the first place. The issue was that if I bought items exceeding the allowance and declared them, that might have put us under closer scrutiny, which is not a good idea when towing a trailer full of bikes and track gear. And I didn't need persuasion not to buy those items (it's your car, your trip, your rules), I inquired for future reference and made that very clear. You also mentioned that it was on sale @ Crappy Tire and that was the end of discussion. So, here's the chain of events:
1) Since the original WM we went to didn't have T6, I asked if we could swing by another one on the way.
2) You told me no
3) I said something along the lines of "Alright, your trip, your rules, I'm just curious for personal future reference"
4) Your offered a perfectly logical explanation and I appreciated it because you were under no obligation to offer it
5) I went back across the border with 2-3 oil filters.. If I bought anything else, it didn't excede $20 total (personal day trip allowance is $50)
6) I had no reason not to declare my purchases with a value that low

At this point, you are badmouthing me on faulty memory. Gee, thanks

P.S. In any case, your personal attack has nothing to do with the topic of this discussion is that the DHS people do go through personal data devices and that there are some smart security measures that can be taken to mitigate the impact.

 

[Germax]

TrueCrypt

That might light up all the wrong flags. You are better using dropbox.com (with truecrypt) or some other form of cloud/server storage.
I know you can make truecrypt invisible and what not but it is still there to be found.

 

[FiReSTaRT]

That might light up all the wrong flags. You are better using dropbox.com (with truecrypt) or some other form of cloud/server storage.
I know you can make truecrypt invisible and what not but it is still there to be found.

Trucrypt can create an encrypted volume named as a random file. You can bury it in your browser configuration/cache and unless you're on the FBI's most wanted list, nobody will know it's there. That's what I do with my password wallet, keys, banking/personal info and any sensitive client data (especially when bidding against local companies is involved) every time I travel abroad. Another bonus is that it gives you the plausible deniability feature (where you can have 2 encrypted volumes, decrypted with 2 separate passwords in one container file). If they tell you to open it (and you are required by law), you can always open the dummy volume (assuming they find the container in the first place).
The safest thing to do is to travel with a clean computer, VPN into your company server (hell, you can set up your own) and DL the encrypted file, that can only be unlocked by a key that's in your possession in addition to a strong password. If you ask CSIS, they'll tell you the same. There have been cases where the laptops of CDN business travelers have been searched and those companies lost out on bids by very narrow margins (they mentioned that on their site), so one of their mandates is to assist companies that do business internationally in protecting their data.

 

[toysareforboys]

I'd rather be paranoid then have to deal with US Border Services.

They are not fun people. Note: if they are patting you down don't knock their hand away from the engagement ring in your pocket for which you have no receipt for. "No, I swear I didn't hide any more rings in my rectum!!!"

-Jamie M.