A reset phone will appear highly suspect and they'll probably ask where your real phone / data is, and detain you until you answer them (and/or send you back if you're not a citizen).

I mean, maybe, but there's no evidence yet to support this conclusion. I'd be a little surprised if the TSA/CBP clowns have any idea what they're doing, they're mostly just there for intimidation and data collection.

new phone who dis.

But really you can spend 30 minutes loading some apps and games, copying over a few dozen pictures, contacts, etc.

For the same reason you need the 2A.

National governments have never ever historical remained on the side of "the people". They eventually go bad, more quickly so when their citizenry is impotent.

So put up the good fight. Freedom has a price, and it's not paid on April 15th

Put up the good fight, and never stop. It's a fight against entropy.

I would be very cautious with that. Crossing border and going through border control (in this case TSA and they've got a reputation...) with a phone back to factory settings and no content doesn't look like something border control would just let pass. I can't believe they wouldn't find that suspicious and go to even greater length to control and search you just on that basis.

Honestly, the other resposnes to this comment suggest why such suggestions, while done in earnest, might be more harmful that helpful.

I appreciate your want, but right now the rule of law with the Border Agents seems to be "As [they] like it". Providing any sort of privacy protection is likely to garner even more suspicion from Agents, especially those that have already made up a judgement on who is and isn't a suspect.

This isn't to say people should roll over and just open up their devices, but suggestions that will impede the Border Agents or frustrate their activities should be noted as such and readers need to be aware of the potential reprecussions so they can make an informed decision. It is important to have a staunch resistance to this nonsense, but people need to be able to choose their level of participation.

What would they do if you just don't carry your phone with you when you fly? One could ship their phone or put it in checked luggage.

They are not just looking for data at the border, they are imaging the phone and keeping those records for god knows how long and with what level of security. That is a level of privacy I'm not willing to give up, let alone the risk of having company confidential data end up in unintended hands.

In the US if you end up in secondary inspection, your checked luggage can be brought there too.

Then you just risk of losing your smart phone. 100 - 200 bucks is good enough for thieves.

Your unusual behaviour becomes grounds for their reasonable suspicion. They'll hold you and question you to make sure you are who you say you are and that you're not on their lists and haven't been in contact with anyone on their lists.

This is probably a fine strategy if you are a citizen and don't mind being held in secondary for a bit.

This is terrible advice to foreigners who may be denied entry, and then have that denial seen as prejudicial in trying to enter the country again.

I'm a foreigner (German) and I would have no problem doing so. I know no other country where they copy their phone and I also don't want to give this special rights even to USA.

Unless of course having an utterly scrubbed phone (devoid of signs of normal usage) is in itself a red flag to these people.

"Please provide us with the username and password combinations for all of your social media accounts".

Your answers to this are:

1: "here you are", and hope you haven't said anything that'll get you turned away

2: "I can't remember them, because I use strong passwords", and hope that doesn't get you turned away

3: "I don't have social media accounts", but remember that lying to federal agents is a crime.

4: Enable 2FA but since you're a foreigner in the US you don't have cell service, so no 2FA text is ever received.

You're compliant as you can be.

Certainly there's a way around it, as you wouldn't take a vacation and leave yourself locked out of social media (though it's a good idea).

I don't take my American simcard overseas, it's useless and I don't want to lose it.

Also, frame your vacation as a "getaway from technology."

Partner that with a candybar phone -- which you're going to buy a SIM card for in your destination country -- and you have a perfectly reasonable story.

At least I hope it's reasonable because it's what I've been doing for almost a decade

So what? They can still hold you for hours and then deny you entry.

5: Don't visit the USA. It's not compulsory to suck America's arse, you know.