"US border authorities cannot search the cellphones of travelers without having some reason to believe a particular traveler has committed a crime, a federal appeals court ruled Wednesday. The 4th US Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond ruled in the case of a Turkish national who was arrested at Dulles International Airport after agents found firearm parts in his luggage..." https://www.theguardian.com/world/2...arches-cant-without-reason-crime-court-ruling
IANAL, but I think that this just applies in the 4th Circuit. Also, it's not clear whether it only applies to citizens. The article cites the 4th Amendment, but refers to the defendant as a "Turkish national".
He was caught twice before trying to smuggle firearm parts out of the US what did he think was gonna happen when he went through border control lol
Potentially encouraging, but really it's not only the immediate search, it's the whole raft of policy with what happens to the data that matters. The way I understand it is that the data is kept indefinitely and made available to anyone in LE through search. In other words, you become a perpetual potential suspect, with none of the evidential and warrant constraints you would have once in the country. It would also be interesting to know whether this protection might apply to encrypted disks.
It is probably better to do zero-fill your HDD/SSD and then install only pure OS without any additional programs and data. Once you pass the border and get in the country just download encrypted backup from the VPS or hosting.
Yes, the electronic bypassing of the border is what makes the thing so absurd - I'm more peeved with the stupid waste of time for no benefit than I am how to outflank the idiocy. But this is what happens when the Praetorian Guard takes over - and they do get a benefit in building their empire.
