Two wrongs don't make a right. Just because one party is doing it, doesn't mean we want everyone doing it, or even that we wanted it to ever happen at all.

I recently noticed when coming back through UK passport/ID control that there are now boxes hanging from the ceiling in the waiting area, I assume to scoop up IMSI's/Wifi/Bluetooth/NFC MAC addresses from phones and tablets. All tied to passport/facial biometrics presumably.

Is simply turning off your device while there a solution? Asking as someone who may travel to the UK and EU this year.

No, there are stealth SMS messages and your baseband processor is receiving/answering them even when phone is off but battery is inside.

https://github.com/CellularPrivacy/Android-IMSI-Catcher-Dete...

I'm speculating, you could try asking GCHQ. With SDRs so compact and cheap these days the chances are high that they are installed in such places as airports and train stations. It is fairly safe to assume that turning things off should prevent most data leakage, but for the truly paranoid you would have to remove all the sewn RFID tags from your clothes and not carry contactless enabled cards.

Haven't they had your passport photo on file, like, forever? Probably since before digital archives even existed. The USA is a bit different in this regard, but every country with a national ID (i.e. most of the world) has your face linked to your name, nationality and document number, that's how ID works, it gives an ability to identify people.

They probably also have enough to generate a DeepFake if they want. Can't wait for the next big incident to involve that...

That doesn't make it ok!

That’s bad, but it’s not to exploit influence over you for profit.

Yes, unfortunately. No need to dig myself any deeper.