"How to Secure Your Phone’s Data Before Traveling Abroad
Here are some best practices for safeguarding sensitive personal data.
When I travel to Asia this summer, I plan to leave my iPhone at home. Instead, I’ll pack a different phone lacking my staple apps, like Instagram, Slack and Signal. It won’t even be logged in to my work email.
No, I’m not planning a digital detox. I’m choosing to travel with what’s known as a burner phone because my personal device contains sensitive data that I don’t want others, particularly U.S. border protection officers, to search.
For over a decade, the federal government has had the authority to conduct border searches of travelers’ personal electronics, including phones, laptops and tablets. In recent years, such inspections have steadily increased, though they happen to only a small portion of people entering the United States.
Last year, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency reported that it had conducted roughly 43,000 electronics searches, up from about 38,000 in 2023.
To be clear, I may be particularly paranoid as a journalist who is constantly working to protect confidential sources from being outed, so a burner phone is an extreme measure that most people won’t find practical or even necessary."
