If you're hopping across the pond this summer, you may want to reconsider taking your mobile with you; and if you value your privacy, all of your other electronic devices.
When you go through US Customs and Border Protection, the police can seize your smartphone, laptop and/or your electric toothbrush and detain you until you give up the passwords to access them. There are also reports of demands for other passwords, such as apps and social media accounts.
These searches have been going on for years, however there has recently been a drastic increase in requests for devices. The amount of data that we now store on our smartphones has also increased; your texts, emails, Facebook friends, search history and location history is all available to anyone who has your device.
This might not be a problem if you feel that they have 'nothing to hide', but if you're travelling for business then there are further considerations. If you hand over the passwords to a company device, you may provide the US with access to customer data and other sensitive information. This would likely be in breach of your company's privacy policy and the Data Protection Act.
Once obtained, any of the information that they download from your device becomes part of your permanent record, and can then be introduced as evidence in a court of law.
So, should I be worried?
If you're comfortable with the police scrolling through all your texts and tweets, then there's no need to worry about taking your devices abroad. However, if you're entering the country for business reasons or just don't feel like giving your online persona to US Customs there are a few things you can do to protect your privacy.
It may sound obvious, but one of the easiest ways to navigate around these pitfalls is just to leave your devices at home. You can easily pick up a disposable phone once you're in the country, and they often come with data packs.
If you absolutely can't do without your device, back it up before you leave and then wipe the device of everything you wouldn't be happy to share with the US. If you can also reset your phone to factory settings then any information you have in the cloud wouldn't be accessible through your device, giving you a little more protection.
If you're travelling abroad for work, talk to your employer about taking something other than your in-office devices. A travel laptop or phone could be reset to factory settings before and after each trip. If customer data is stored in the cloud, you could access it after you have entered the country.
Still concerned? Check out Wired's A guide to getting past customs with your digital privacy intact
