"Oh you have no phone and nothing to search? There must be drugs up your asshole"
<detained and search, strip-search invasively, cuffed, shackled, tossed in cell, taken to hospitals against my will (for 16 hours) where they lied to doctors. Warrant obtained (for external and 'internal' search). Taken (via prisoner van) to another hospital 60 miles away with more crooked doctor after first doctor refuses to go with the shenanigans. Finger printed, booked. Denied sleep and harassed every time you try to fall asleep. Forced to perform bodily functions in front of agents, who search what comes out. Eventually dumped at the border without apology -- hopefully if you have pets or children someone will take care of them because you're not entitled to a phone call or use of a phone in most circumstances.>
My true story as a US citizen re-entering America. Enjoy!
There are (still) lots of US citizens who don't own a cellphone and so couldn't produce one. Are all of those subject to a cavity search? If that were common, I'd think I'd heard of it by now.
In any case, if the choice is between having a copy of the contents of my phone made, or being detained and cavity-searched, I'll take the detention and cavity search.
>In any case, if the choice is between having a copy of the contents of my phone made, or being detained and cavity-searched, I'll take the detention and cavity search.
Obviously I would too, but if you haven't experienced this kind of detention I think you'll find people such as ourselves who would rather this than that are rare. And don't forget, once you're on the shit-list they will mark you on their computer and make you experience hell _for life_ everytime you enter the US. Ask me how I know. Ready to exercise some privacy today? Great, hope 30 years down the road when you want to take the grandkids to Cabo you're ready for the whole party to get the Pablo Escabar lock-up experience. Want to get quick lunch across the border? Hope you informed your boss you may not be back to work tomorrow.
I've effectively lost for life the ability most Americans have to have any expectation whatsoever they may be able to clear customs in a matter of hours. I have to plan to be in complete incommunicado from my family for 24 hours from the time I hit the border. I have to plan that most likely I'll be tossed in a cold cell, and perhaps get more Emergency Room bills after agents take me to doctors against my will. I have to prepare for the lawsuits that may come from any unpaid medical bills for medical service I never asked for and for which I was brought involuntarily (cuffed and shackled), which CBP officers have weaponized. I have to plan on never scheduling a flight back home the same day I enter the US, because most likely I'm going to miss it.
>Are all of those subject to a cavity search? If that were common, I'd think I'd heard of it by now.
Yes it's extremely common. Holy Cross Hospital in Nogalez, AZ has a steady stream of traffic bringing 'patients' in to be inspected in this manner and there are lawsuits for forceful penetration of women without a warrant as part of this practice as well. While the agents detained me they told me many many stories of others put through this treatment.
It's not like you have another phone you're trying to hide and pass this one off, right? So at that point, it is the only answer. They can not like it all they want, and they can spend as much time trying to find how you're gaming them, but if you're not actually gaming them, then that's their problem.
>>but if you're not actually gaming them, then that's their problem.
Is it? They have almost infinite time and money, they can follow false leads and accusations almost indefinitely, and whoever makes that decision will never be met with any kind of consequence for making the wrong call. However sitting in a cell somewhere while they wait for you to give them information that doesn't exist definitely sounds like your problem not theirs.
Not on its own. It's just that if crossing the border relies on the discretionary power of the local agents, and they find you suspicious enough to search you, and you then have additional aspects that might annoy them further such as being evasive about your electronics, then it could be a big problem for you.
Statistically you don't have to worry about this at all.
It's not being evasive about your electronics if you truly only have a travel phone while explaining it as a travel phone. That's telling it how it is.
If you have a phone and refuse to grant access, that's being evasive. If you have 2 phones and try to play it like you have 1 phone, that's being evasive. If you have a secret under-duress boot partition for your laptop, that's being evasive.
Having a set of travel electronics is not evasive. That's just how it is in today's big brother world.
In some countries and contexts this is a possibility. It's not uncommon for countries to have a system where you essentially have to convince a human border guard that you are no threat with no clear guidelines. Having no phone or a phone with not enough data can be a problem in such a context.
The vast majority of border crossings across the world don't involve any questions about phones anyway, but if you are at the stage where they do the characteristics of your phone or lack thereof can piss off the person who determines whether you are allowed to enter. And if you are at that stage entry denial will probably not be solely based on your phone or lack thereof because there was probably a reason they starting asking about it in the first place.
These aren't purely hypothetical scenarios but real life examples of things that happened to people I know.
> It's not uncommon for countries to have a system where you essentially have to convince a human border guard that you are no threat with no clear guidelines.
Canada is like this. I traveled to Canada with my father a few years ago. When we crossed the border I was driving; they asked both of us if we had any guns in the car. The answer was no and they were obviously free to search the car if they doubted that. But then they started grilling my dad about which guns he had at home, 500 miles away. How many shotguns do you own? What models? How many rifles do you own? Which models? How long have you owned these guns? What do you use them for?
They didn't ask me any of that though. I was 35, I could have owned as many guns as he did, but I didn't and they seemed to know that already. I assume their system had access to some sort of database that flagged my father as a probable gun owner but not me. And the young border guard seemed intent to ask him invasive and utterly irrelevant questions to 'punish' him for this. I think the border guard was acting on individual initiative, because a few weeks later we entered Canada a second time and the border guards didn't even ask if we had guns in the car.
If the database shows that your dad is a gun owner but then your dad denies owning guns or soft sells the guns so it is a different list than what the border agent already knows, then they have your dad on being evasive and potentially a subversive. Now they get to do something for the day rather than whatever they normally do.
I am under the impression you did not read the comment. I am not making the claim that the travel phone equals entry denial, just that it's a factor among several.
In the vast majority of cases, it will not be a factor, nor will anything else because you'll just go through the border without arousing suspicion or any searches.
The vast majority of flights won't include device searches or these awkward questions. But if you are in a situation where they do want to search your phone, the fact that it's a travel phone is not going to be received well. This will of course depend on the border guard in question. Unless you are a citizen of the country your capacity to enter it is now compromised because the will of the border guard is in practice nearly absolute and without recourse.
If by plausible, you mean intentionally false — then in many countries, if caught, that might result in being: blacklisted, deported, imprisoned, detained, lose of citizenship, etc.
