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this post was submitted on 23 Mar 2025
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Privacy
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Last time I travelled overseas I took a burner phone without a calling plan, and just used it as a wifi device at the hotel. I used google maps and "offline maps", GPS still worked. Used the phone as a camera, and I would have uploaded anything private and wiped locally but that wasn't necessary.
If anyone at the border had asked, I'd have said it was so I didn't risk losing my phone, and so work couldn't call me up and bug me during vacation.
Taking photos and using a GPS to get around in a foreign country can improve entertainment :)
What about checking it into your luggage (assuming airport)? It's unlikely that they'll fish it out and bring it to the security checkpoint just to get you to unlock it. For land travel, maybe mail it to your hotel or something.
That's better than not having a phone at all.
I guess since most devices don't have removable batteries anymore, you'd be violating checked baggage regulations as they don't allow batteries. Not sure what the consequences would be, though.
Don't they have universal unlocks for suitcases? They can just take a phone / laptop out, disassemble it quickly to clone the hard drive (or sometimes not even that, just power it on and use any of the various Israeli exploits they've bought) and presto, you can go on your merry way.
Yes, they can access your phone if they want to, but accessing the data is another story. You'd have to be a very high profile target for them to try attacking your phone, and if it's off, they'd have to break the encryption. AFAIK, the "Israeli exploits" aren't magic, and it's not something they'd even try in a typical airport check.
If you're really worried about it, mall your phone to your destination, those have a lot less security.