I will be leaving next month.

I see TSA-approved locks.

I don’t want to alert trigger-happy guards or whatever.

I will delete all my third-party apps too.

I will also probably just reboot my tablet completely.

Same with my laptop.

Probably my phone too.

Saving my passwords somewhere else too.

I have some other ways to be private that I won’t reveal openly unless you want to DM, idk

But honestly, with this new cyclospora going around, I just want to survive the next three or four weeks.

What do you suggest?

  • cfgaussian@lemmygrad.ml
    26·
    13 days ago

    If you are from the US, your main problem won’t be leaving the country, it will be coming back into the US. That is when they are most likely to want to ask you questions and search your devices. If you are travelling to Europe it would be the European authorities that would be asking questions, but since you will be coming from the US and not from a global south country, chances are very high that you will not be asked anything or have any of your devices searched. US citizens almost always get privileged treatment across the Western world, unless you have travelled to countries like Russia or Iran recently.

    As for going back into the US, just never unlock your phone, tablet or laptop for anyone and make sure it cannot be unlocked using biometrics.

    Also, please don’t reveal private information even in DMs. Even on this platform, you don’t know who you may be talking to.

    Hope you have a good time in Europe, but be careful if travelling to southern Europe at the moment. There have been some very bad wildfires across Spain and southern France, and the heat wave/drought is not over, even further north.

    • stink@lemmygrad.ml
      English
      9·
      13 days ago

      I agree with everything here, tbh. I’ve never been interviewed leaving the country, only when entering back in.

      I’d also recommend uploading a backup of your phone to the cloud, I have a phone I use when traveling that has grapheneOS on it, and I also remove all my personal stuff from it before coming back into the country.

  • Cricket@lemmy.zip@lemmy.zipEnglish
    16·
    13 days ago

    I agree with pretty much everything @cfgaussian@lemmygrad.ml wrote. The main problems are not usually when you’re leaving the country, aside from the regular TSA security checks before boarding. From what I recall, the airline gate agents verify that you have a visa for the destination country (if it requires a visa) so that they don’t end up taking you on a flight to a country that you can’t enter. Aside from that, I think pretty much all of the harassment, detention, interrogations, etc. that you hear about happening at the border is when you are entering the US. It’s usually the country that you are entering that will do any serious checking up on you.

    Fun fact apropos of nothing: you can exit the US through land borders without any check whatsoever on the US side. At least that’s been my experience crossing by foot into Tijuana, Mexico. You just walk up and cross. There’s absolutely no one there on the US side of the foot crossing, although I imagine that they have cameras and facial recognition all over the place.

    As for electronic security that’s a whole other barrel of fish that can get pretty complicated, but as a baseline you would want to make sure that all your devices are fully encrypted with strong encryption that does not have some back up decryption method (like BitLocker if you back up your recovery key on your Microsoft account). For the purpose of US laws, make sure that the only methods to decrypt your devices involve you entering a PIN or password and not biometrics only (fingerprints, facial recognition, etc). I have no idea how other countries treat this in their laws.

    For storing passwords, I would suggest using a reliable password vault with a strong password, like KeePass or KeePassXC.

    I also agree on the DMs. Not only you don’t know who you may be talking to, but I don’t even know if DMs are encrypted on Lemmy, so any admin or anyone who could get a hold of the server data could read your messages.

    If you plan to return to the US, the discussion will be pretty different.

    • Makan@lemmygrad.mlOPEnglish
      3·
      12 days ago

      I agree with pretty much everything @cfgaussian@lemmygrad.ml wrote. The main problems are not usually when you’re leaving the country, aside from the regular TSA security checks before boarding. From what I recall, the airline gate agents verify that you have a visa for the destination country (if it requires a visa) so that they don’t end up taking you on a flight to a country that you can’t enter. Aside from that, I think pretty much all of the harassment, detention, interrogations, etc. that you hear about happening at the border is when you are entering the US. It’s usually the country that you are entering that will do any serious checking up on you.

      Thanks, I needed to hear this this morning (morning anxiety and all).

      Thanks, everyone, for getting back to me on this!

    • Makan@lemmygrad.mlOPEnglish
      2·
      12 days ago

      Also, yes, I do currently plan to return to the United States, but I am not sure yet and I don’t know how things will change in, say, 3 or 5 or 10 years from now.

      I want to fight in the belly of the beast, not in Spain.

      But both are, of course, necessary, I would say.

      • Cricket@lemmy.zip@lemmy.zipEnglish
        4·
        12 days ago

        Sounds good. Be aware that much of what happens at the border to activists, journalists, etc. has been consistent for a long time, across administrations. It would be a good idea to research everything before returning, if you think that you could be a target for them.

        • Makan@lemmygrad.mlOPEnglish
          2·
          12 days ago

          I imagine that there will be phases where it boils and then simmers here and there.

          • Cricket@lemmy.zip@lemmy.zipEnglish
            2·
            12 days ago

            Yes, I wouldn’t be surprised if it fluctuates a little over time with new policies, administrations, etc., but I think that one fundamental factor is that the people staffing border checks are cops that are focused on “defending the homeland” or somesuch.

            • Makan@lemmygrad.mlOPEnglish
              2·
              12 days ago

              Yes, and the more people have a “change of heart,” the more of the ranks will be swelled with “true believer” MAGAts.

  • Maeve @lemmygrad.ml
    8·
    13 days ago

    Pretty much what they said, but I think a fresh install of your devices is a good idea. As far as passwords, I’m not sure, unless you have a photographic memory. Maybe dress in a manner that matches gender assigned at birth, but it feels gross even saying that.

    You may be nervous, scared, excited, happy, sad, angry, and a whole lot of other emotions all jumbled up together, and that’s normal, I think. Try to focus on what could go right and what steps you need to take to accomplish your dreams. I may even go so far as to say break it down into your first goal and the steps you need to take to accomplish that, once you’ve arrived at your destination.

    NGL, I’m a little jealous, but that doesn’t keep me from wishing you all the best, and believing you have what it takes to achieve your goals, step by step. I’m really pulling for you, because you are so worth doing the hard things to get where you want to be, in life. I’m sending so much love. Please know you will be in my prayers and meditations, dear one.

    • Makan@lemmygrad.mlOPEnglish
      2·
      12 days ago

      You’re fine with the first paragraph. I don’t mind going stealth.

      Thanks for the advice. I think I just have a case of the “nerves.”

      • Maeve @lemmygrad.ml
        3·
        12 days ago

        My dear sister,

        A case of the nerves in a big move like this is, again, completely normal! Wish I could hug you so much. 🫂❤️

          • Maeve @lemmygrad.ml
            2·
            12 days ago

            Ah well, a little jealous. Right now, my path seems to be here. I was able to get out into our community a little bit today. Needs are great, especially among the elderly who took me in and made me their own, even though our skin tones and religious understanding are different. It took that to make me realize how truly blessed I am, I just get in my head and don’t appreciate it. Something about working with what is, to get to what should be. Our impact may be nothing on the world stage. Visiting with a neighbor who is about to die from stage four cancer, grasping his cancer-ridden body part, despite a heavy dose of morphine, so weak I had to put my ear to his lips to hear him say his Lord is coming for him … Another, who didn’t know me but was happy to see me… another who was tickled pink to see me and their caregiver telling me since I’ve been injured, she’d been made to understand she had big shoes to fill, because they were mine… Another who has breathing issues and is on oxygen more now than off, another who tells people behind my back how kind I am…my parent who’s urging me to go back to school for something and said they will help…

            I got off my high horse, and was humbled. I have no right to complain.

            • Makan@lemmygrad.mlOPEnglish
              2·
              12 days ago

              It’s fine if you’re humble but sometimes some time on the high horse is what you need.

              • Maeve @lemmygrad.ml
                2·
                12 days ago

                In the days of kings and queens I was a jester. They treat me like a god, they treat me like a leper. You see me move back and forth between both. I’m trying to find a balance, trying to find a balance.