Customs search finding convo about boys & sex

[Guest Promsak]

Only if you are travelling to the US.

Oh, you know about other countries?

[firecat69]

I just restore my Mac and use the cloud to rest it to how it was where ever I travel. Sure you can recover the data but even the NSA needs forensic experts to do this. So my Mac is basically a new computer when I travel.

And what do you do if they demand access to your Cloud. I don't really care because I could care less about them but some may and I don't think your idea does anything to protect them.

[colmx]

And what do you do if they demand access to your Cloud.

Some would say that they already have access to that, so no need to ask for it!

[forky123]

And what do you do if they demand access to your Cloud.

You ask them what a cloud is as you don't understand this new fangled interweb stuff.

[firecat69]

I'm not really worried about getting stopped but if was, that does not sound like an intelligent response!

[Guest Promsak]

I don't understand the need for a throw away laptop. It is simply not necessary. Any laptop can be erased there is no need to buy a new laptop which... you have to erase.

Indeed, there are many free erase programs to delete everything to U.S. military standards.

Now the cloud, that's another thing.

[Guest ryanasia]

And what do you do if they demand access to your Cloud. I don't really care because I could care less about them but some may and I don't think your idea does anything to protect them.

 

As others have said you play ignorant. I just got this phone as a gift what is the cloud? FWIW they would never ask you for your cloud account because such a thing doesn't exist. They would need to ask for your Google Photo log in credentials or something specific.Here is the thing if you restore like I said your phone will only display a welcome screen. They don't have the time to bother you any further it takes a good 15 minutes just to set a device up.

 

They also have no just cause. A blank phone that is brand new obviously has nothing on it and they can see this is the case by going to settings>>>info. 

 

They can suspect anything they want but they do not have a warrant for cloud services they can only check your hardware you have in your possession. Hope that makes sense.

[Guest ryanasia]

Indeed, there are many free erase programs to delete everything to U.S. military standards.

Now the cloud, that's another thing.

 

It is irrelevant, to get data off of a smart phone that has been restored costs in the realm of $100,000 it isn't cheap. The FBI went to court against Apple to force them to let the FBI in. Apple said no the FBI lost and they got some Isreali firm. That phone wasn't even erased just passcode protected. 

 

Even to circumvent the password it requires people with over a million dollars worth of specialized equipment and they have to take it apart and have access the information by lifting it directly from the microchip. Your average immigration official probably has a phone half the price of yours and a BA if he is lucky.

[GWMinUS]

Bucknaway,

I think a Chrome Book also cannot not be carried in your Carry-On Luggage.

Any thing larger than a Mobile Phone is banned. Even GameBoys and small Cameras.

too bad because I enjoy having my Tablet to watch my own movies on the 19 hour flights!!!

But I have been overseas many times and on returning to the US only got searched once.

They were looking for food items and found a package of cashews from Thailand.

Even though they were sealed I had to throw them into the trash.

Have a good trip!!!

[bucknaway]

Bucknaway,

I think a Chrome Book also cannot not be carried in your Carry-On Luggage.

Any thing larger than a Mobile Phone is banned. Even GameBoys and small Cameras.

too bad because I enjoy having my Tablet to watch my own movies on the 19 hour flights!!!

But I have been overseas many times and on returning to the US only got searched once.

They were looking for food items and found a package of cashews from Thailand.

Even though they were sealed I had to throw them into the trash.

Have a good trip!!!

You are right. I won't feel so sad if my chromebook is stolen from my checked bag, but my laptop used for work.... if that were stolen, it would be a great loss.

[kokopelli]

The current ban on laptops, etc, in carry on luggage applies to flights from certain countries in Middle East and North Africa.

Maybe that will change to include other countries.

[NIrishGuy]

Am I missing something, what the heck have some of you guys got stored on your device(s) that you're so worried about someone seeking access to it ?

 

I mean if its just gay porn and Thai guys getting fucked by you and the like or whatever then "so what" I assuming it's all above board etc)  - and again unless I'm missing something.

 

I do understand that going back into America perhaps you might encounter some homophobic prick who might decide to give you a hard time ( no pun intended) but again "so what", it's not like you're doing anything wrong or carrying anything illegal ( i presume) so why the need to hide everything / anything so carefully and with military protection etc* ?

 

* I'm talking above here specifically about trying to hide the gay part of our lives there - the need to keep "whatever else" as is used in our every day lives from the Government is of course a bigger issue revolving more around human rights and too much government overview etc and is a whole other subject perhaps.

[vinapu]

world is slowly going mad, that's an impression I get reading discussion above.

 

This would be suitable if was carried by citizens of some oppressive regime like North Korea but citizens of so called free world having need for such discussion and trading tips means only one thing to me , Big Brother will be back with vengeance very soon.

 

Perhaps Nirish approach is the best  'what you were doing  in Thailand ?" , "having good time with my boyfriend", straight , honest and not inviting further questioning

 

as a side remark, I agree that both Canadian and US customs officials are much ruder and nastier that former Soviet Union ones and as four time visitor to former proletariat paradise I know what I'm talking about.

[a447a]

No-one in Customs /Immigration in Australia has ever asked me what I was doing in Thailand - I suspect they already know!

 

But if they ever asked I'd be upfront with them. I was eating Thai food and having sex. Nothing to be ashamed of. Besides, these prying pricks are total strangers so it doesn't really matter.

 

The only time I have logged out of tumblr and cleared by browsing history is when I went to Dubai and China.

[Guest ryanasia]

Am I missing something, what the heck have some of you guys got stored on your device(s) that you're so worried about someone seeking access to it ?

 

I mean if its just gay porn and Thai guys getting fucked by you and the like or whatever then "so what" I assuming it's all above board etc)  - and again unless I'm missing something.

 

I do understand that going back into America perhaps you might encounter some homophobic prick who might decide to give you a hard time ( no pun intended) but again "so what", it's not like you're doing anything wrong or carrying anything illegal ( i presume) so why the need to hide everything / anything so carefully and with military protection etc* ?

 

* I'm talking above here specifically about trying to hide the gay part of our lives there - the need to keep "whatever else" as is used in our every day lives from the Government is of course a bigger issue revolving more around human rights and too much government overview etc and is a whole other subject perhaps.

 

I have pictures of legal aged adults. I don't want to get in an argument over pubic hair or ID cards. I am not trying to hide my gay side of life any more than they are trying to expose it with intrusive searches. Do you really think I need them seeing my orgy pictures from Pattaya involving only people of legal consent? 

 

 

Especially given that the method I described to avoid such a thing is so simple and easy? The borders before you clear immigration is a lawless grey area where warrants aren't necessary. I am speaking for the USA now but you do not have protections before you are legally in the USA. So my question for you is why would I leave myself exposed? 

[firecat69]

world is slowly going mad, that's an impression I get reading discussion above.

 

 

as a side remark, I agree that both Canadian and US customs officials are much ruder and nastier that former Soviet Union ones and as four time visitor to former proletariat paradise I know what I'm talking about.

This makes me chuckle and I believe you . But my only trip to the Soviet Union before it got reduced to Russia was uneventful with customs. They did a quick search of my small carry on and the Guard or whatever came up with 3 Military Medals that I had bought in a Black Market.

 

He looked at them and said in pretty good English , these are not allowed to be taken out of the country and if you do this again they will be confiscated as he put them back in my bag with a big smile.

 

Made a number of business trips after they had been reduced to Russia and don't remember any problems but then again my memory is not what it used to be.

[Guest ryanasia]

Did you try going there in the year 2017? 

[reader]

From NY Times

Border Officers Nearly Double Searches of Electronic Devices, U.S. Says

 

WASHINGTON — Customs officers at the border and at airports almost doubled their searches of electronic devices of people entering the United States in the last six months, according to data released Tuesday by Customs and Border Protection. 

 

Despite the surge in searches — nearly 15,000 from October to March, compared with 8,383 in the same period in 2015 and ’16 — agency officials said the latest numbers represent less than one percent of the 189.6 million travelers that arrived in the United States in that period.

 

“These searches, which affect fewer than one-hundredth of one percent of international travelers, have contributed to national security investigations, arrests for child pornography and evidence of human trafficking,” said John P. Wagner, a deputy assistant commissioner at Customs and Border Protection.

 

Privacy activists say the searches are invasive and violate Fourth Amendment protections against unreasonable searches.

But courts have long held that those protections do not apply at the border and at airports because of the government’s compelling interest in combating crime and terrorism.

 

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/11/us/border-customs-officers-electronic-devises-search.html

[firecat69]

Did you try going there in the year 2017?

No it has been 13 years since I was there.

[steveboy]

world is slowly going mad, that's an impression I get reading discussion above.

 

This reminds me of my 96 y.o. brother in law.  His mind places a golden era around the 1950's.  Everything was better at that time, and things have been going downhill since then.  My much younger sister an me we take this man as a role model of how not to age, and we mutually cultivate our optimism and peace of mind. 

[PeterRS]

Made a number of business trips after they had been reduced to Russia and don't remember any problems but then again my memory is not what it used to be.

Had two flights in to Moscow in 2011. Long immigration queues but no problem whatever with customs. Just walked through.

[aussie_]

No-one in Customs /Immigration in Australia has ever asked me what I was doing in Thailand - I suspect they already know!

You probably do already but bypass Adelaide airport when returning from Thailand. Immigration there would be well suited to work in the USA. If i put any country except Thailand on the arrival card it is straight through to exit. Thailand means interrogation time for single males. I know for a fact that they have meetings to discuss incoming passengers from Thailand and anyone after multiple trips will be questioned and USBs etc checked.

 

I got fed up with their bs and told them so and welcomed them to check everything in my possession. Someone must have deleted me from the database after that because i never have been stopped again.

[a447a]

Come to think of it, I haven't spoken to an Immigration officer since 2011 - that's when I got my new chipped e-passport. You just put it in a machine, wait for your photo to be taken and that's it - you're through and free to go pick up your luggage.

[steveboy]

Come to think of it, I haven't spoken to an Immigration officer since 2011 - that's when I got my new chipped e-passport. You just put it in a machine, wait for your photo to be taken and that's it - you're through and free to go pick up your luggage.

 

You are right, I hadn't thought about this!

I also have Global Entry and pass through Immigration checked by a machine.  

Now I can leave all my raunchy porn on laptop and tablet, maybe add some more...

Except that when the machines are down (it happened to me once)

one still has to face a real person.

But at least when I applied for Global Entry they didn't make me swear that I'm not gay.

[aussie_]

In Australia they check your arrival card again after you pick up your luggage. That is when the inspections begin if they deem it appropriate. And if your card says Thailand as the destination where you spent most of your holiday and you are a single male then the bells start ringing that we are sex fiends and drug couriers. That is in Adelaide. Perth and Eastern seaboard airports have never been a problem so far.