Hi all,

I am travelling soon to the US, for my vocation and as a long-time private person I will be taking some steps to maintain my privacy as I enter the country.

As this is an interesting area of the topic, I have decided to throw the question open to all of you.

What precautions (IT, physical, mental, otherwise) do you undertake when travelling internationally?

M.

  • Gbagginsthe3rd@aussie.zone
    2·
    8 months ago

    Guessing you’ll take a burner phone? On arrival and Dep in Aus they can demand you open it and they can search anything. If you refuse they quarantine your phone for 14 days and prob use some Israeli software to access the contents

  • The 8232 Project@lemmy.ml
    2·
    8 months ago

    Here are some helpful links from the EFF (Electronic Frontier Foundation) on the topic:

    https://www.eff.org/wp/defending-privacy-us-border-guide-travelers-carrying-digital-devices

    https://www.eff.org/files/2017/03/10/digital-privacy-border-2017-guide3.10.17.pdf

    https://www.eff.org/files/2018/01/11/border-pocket-guide-2.pdf

    https://www.eff.org/issues/border-searches

    I’m sure there’s more that I haven’t put here, feel free to sift through the search page

    Having lived in the U.S. my whole life, (and this doesn’t speak for everyone), it’s not the dystopia people make it out to be all the time. In fact, people will likely judge you for wearing a face mask. If you care about hiding your face, sunglasses and a cap is enough. Remember to be reasonable with your threat model!

  • wildbus8979@sh.itjust.works
    2·
    8 months ago

    You absolutely can opt out of facial recognition at the TSA! But you have to be on your guards and make sure you request it! They might fake not knowing so you should insist!

    • OSH@lemmy.ml
      1·
      8 months ago

      If I just would have known it earlier.

      It was quite the surprise when boarding the return flight without having to show any baoarding passes.

  • helpImTrappedOnline@lemmy.world
    1·
    8 months ago

    You know those movies were the main character blinks and their stuff gets stolen? That’s pretty much true in some of the cities.

    Also if someone is asking you for gas money, help at the atm, trying to sell you something random - leave.

    lemmy.one/c/scams seems to have a lot of the common ones listed. It might be worth lurking on r/scams to see if there’s anything more current to watch out for.

  • csm10495@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
    1·
    8 months ago

    A lot of the comments here are straight up nuts. Do what you do at home. If that’s a VPN, go for it. If you rawdog it, whatevs.

    Https is on almost everything at this point, so just be smart like normal.

    I doubt anyone cares enough to bug you that much.

    • Zahille7@lemmy.world
      2·
      8 months ago

      You weren’t kidding, holy shit. Like, I understand wanting to make sure that your privacy is protected at all costs, but at the same time some of these suggestions sound straight up tinfoil hat.

      The US is not some fucked up dystopian police state where everyone is “out to get” the next person they see on the street (but I’ll wholeheartedly agree that some parts are absolute shit). No, there aren’t cities where if you blink all your shit’s gonna be stolen (parts of some, sure). In fact, most people will actually actively try to lend a hand, the worst that might happen is a total stranger ignores you when it’s obvious you may need help with something.

      Idk, as an American who’s travelled the US quite a bit, I guess it kinda pisses me off when I see generalizing statements like those. Just like it would literally anyone else.

      Edit: if you’re truly worried, why not just stay home or something?

  • ExtremeDullard@lemmy.sdf.org
    1·
    8 months ago

    Imagine you’re visiting a dystopian police state with ubiquitous surveillance and a non-zero chance to be thrown in jail without due process, because you are.