Yes, THIS. THIS. Lying to a federal agent brings a world of hurt (obligatory disclaimer: I am a law professor but I am not YOUR lawyer...). Right now any customs agent with a brain can just ask "do you have that travel mode turned on? Ok, turn it off," and most courts will allow them to force compliance with that order. It would be really useful to be able to honestly say "I can't."
It's true, if they really want to make someone give up the info, they can arguably detain that person until the timer expires. But that move is much more costly to the government, as well as subject to all kinds of interesting potential legal challenges. So a timer makes the data strictly more secure, even if not perfectly secure.
It's true, if they really want to make someone give up the info, they can arguably detain that person until the timer expires. But that move is much more costly to the government, as well as subject to all kinds of interesting potential legal challenges. So a timer makes the data strictly more secure, even if not perfectly secure.