Has anyone here traveled internationally with their laptops/data...

Has anyone here traveled internationally with their laptops/data? I'm going to France soon from the US and I was wondering:

Do they search all of your storage?

What are they looking for? What is a red flag to them?

Do they care if I have cracked copies of software or torrents of music/movies/games?

Do they look through every flash drive/other form of removable storage you have with you?

I've been doing some research on the process and seeing horror stories of people having their computers/phones confiscated for months, having to give over passwords etc. all in the name of "searching for kiddie pr0n".

This question may be better suited for Sup Forums or /trv/, what do you think?

Sorry for starting a thread on this, I just can't find anything concrete about it or personal experiences related to what I'm going to go through.

Thank you so much for your time and responses.

I've been from Ukraine to Russia, France, Germany and Italy. I never had anyone looking or asking questioning for my data on any of my devices (laptop, phone). They do almost make you strip naked though. In my case that metal detector (or whatever that thing is supposed to detect) kept beeping on me.

>dumb "femanon" doesn't realize he's from the US and will face completely different rules upon returning home

Stop living in a cucked country then. I told you how it is in Europe. No one gives a fuck about bumblefuck floating island.

You know what I hate? People who announce that they are a girl for no useful reason.

I've traveled to the UK and Germany with a laptop on a few occasions. I was never even asked to turn them on, but that may have had something to do with me being a teenager at the time. From what I understand, they may ask you to turn your laptop on just to verify that it's actually a laptop and not a bomb or some shit.

>they may ask you to turn your laptop on just to verify that it's actually a laptop and not a bomb or some shit.
They do that, always.

t. triggered girlet

And I'm from the US by the way.

i travelled from the us to malaysia last month with 2 laptops and roughly 3tb of pirated anime and vns. no one asked any questions regarding anything

went to england and france and they didn't do that. Customs just asks what you are doing there. If you can't answer their questions without losing your spaghetti you probably shouldn't travel without a parent or guardian

>They do that, always.
Leaf here.
I have flown back and forth from Europe for years and IIRC have not once been asked to do that.

>Customs just asks what you are doing there.
>Customs
You seem to have little spaghetti to lose, user.

Weren't you asked to place your laptop and other electronic devices in a separate basket? I always was.

Don't:
>have pirated copyright material installed
>have any porn considered anti-social
>have any writings, drawings, or other media that could be considered subversive
>have a web history containing anti-social sites
>encrypt your hard drive
Just follow those and you'll be fine

1. Don't travel with technology
2. Buy a cheap phone to use as a travel phone without logging into your online accounts in apps before traveling.

Yeah, that happens always, but I have never been asked to turn any of my electronics on

Separate basket, pretty much always. In a few cases they asked to separate the charger too.
But IIRC I've never been asked to turn it on.

Also >They do almost make you strip naked though.
Probably only happens if
>In my case that metal detector (or whatever that thing is supposed to detect) kept beeping on me.
Or something similar. Can't recall ever doing it.

>I have never been asked to turn any of my electronics on
Neither was I.

Well, that's how they verify surely if "it's actually a laptop and not a bomb or some shit". They don't ask you to turn it on. I was never asked to turn my devices ON.

OP here:

Thanks, I was planning on encrypting the secondary storage SSD in my laptop but I'm afraid that would be a red flag.

I understand US customs is much more strict. I plan on wiping everything when I return home as I have backups of everything here.
You don't think having an encrypted drive is a red flag? I heard certain types of encryption are illegal in the EU. see above.


I should mention that I am a student going there for a semester, I need my laptop for 3d modeling/homework assignments.

my laptop is fully encrypted
will they care?
will I spaghetti all over myself more than usual?

>Somebody searching through the data on your labtop or PC.
>With no probable cause.
What?, also what it I refuse?, what if I have no gui?, what if I have full disk encryption?

Sorry but I can't make sense of this, also if you're that paranoid put your questionable shit on mega or Gdrive and just download it back after you pass.

They say you have to give them passwords to everything, if you don't they'll confiscate your stuff and send it to a forensics lab to have it decrypted. That's just what I've read from online forums about their experiences.

I'm just concerned that any traffic over-the-wire will be monitored over there.

>online forums
Shitty anecdotes about retards who don't travel and will pull the arm chair lawyer routine of citing all these "rules" that they don't follow and aren't enforced.

Going to and from the US is easy and I've never been asked to open let alone turn on and log into my computer

>Mail/ship the drive to your new address.
>Travel across.
>???
>Profit.

Why it doesn't make sense is because there are a dozen different ways to pass by whatever they would be looking for, if they did look through data anyway.

I've traveled from the us to Australia and back, 6 times in all. I've never had my laptop even asked to be turned on. They've never even asked me what's on my secondary storage devices

Traveled from Hawaii to Japan, plus I'm Asian so absolutely zero worries of profiling. Haven't flown in ages, so I didn't know to take my laptop out. Just got a few annoyed words, they swabbed the laptop to test, but didn't ask me to turn it on or anything.

Second time around, took the laptop out for the xray line, and sailed through no problem.

Thank you

You don't think it'll get searched in the mail? Sorry if I sound overly cautious.

You're too paranoid, no it won't, and no body will search through your data.

If you're still paranoid use the cloud, use a flash drive and mail it to yourself, use a flash drive, encrypt it and keep it on the keychain with your keys, no body gives a shit, and you can stomp on it in a hurry if you're "caught".

And now that I think about it you can even back up on a micro SD card and put it under the cover of your phone, in your wallet, hell, swallow it.

you'll be fine. i've done it plenty of times and have never had any problems.

Thank you, you are right I'm just paranoid I guess; I had a horrible experience at the consulate for my visa appointment and I guess I'm just shaken from that.

Thank you

Yeah I was thinking about a micro sd card in the waistline of my pants but there's that 3d scanner where you have to put your arms up and I think it can see media like that, another option was to hide it amongst the pcb of my motherboard inside the laptop so it would be hard to distinguish in the x-ray.

But after reading everyone's responses, I think I'll just go with micro sd card with everything on it and like you said put it on my keys, hopefully nobody will ask about it. Here's to luck that this process is as easy as it was for the rest of you.

Traveled in and out of America internationally like 8 times since 9/11 they've never done that
Once I had to explain why I had a DAC duct taped to my laptop but it was just an explanation, no power-on
They seem to like that chemical wipe thingy though, no idea what that's supposed to confirm

Would a newly purchased laptop with a clean install of Windows 7 be a red flag?

>traveling out of kenya from dirty airstrip into international airport
>no body scan, no metal detector
>just a non-adjustable X-ray of your bags by some nog who's looking away and making jokes the entire time
>land in international airport, already cleared through security

Supposed to test for trace amounts of chemicals if not explosive materials. Though I wonder what happens if I travel during the 4th of July/New Year after playing with fireworks.

No

Just take off the sticker that says "Dis Laptop Iz Da Bomb!"

I've never had them ask, but intentionally I've only taken my personal laptop. Also, I haven't traveled internationally with a laptop in the current climate. They're only going to do a detailed search if they're suspicious (ie your on a list, or act squirrelly).

>Be fat rich american pig
>answer all passport check questions with disdain and annoyance
>chinkman: H-Have a nice flight sir

Flown to china from uk a couple of times with laptop, never even been asked to switch it on. Just gets scanned at heathrow departure to make sure its not a bomb I guess.

> flight arrived at same time as one from africa
> chinese let us brits through no problem at all
> africans made to wait as each one of their documents carefully examined
> whiteprivelege.txt
> return home with rabbit heads and other illegal chinese meats

Bring your laptop in carryon, and you won't have a problem. They don't have the time to check people's data.

Yes that's why I listed encrypting your hard drive as a "don't"

That's right you did. How do you feel about an encrypted micro sd card on the keychain? does that sound safe?

german-user here

travelled to brasil, israel, russia as well as all across europe

>Do they search all of your storage?

no

>What are they looking for? What is a red flag to them?

electronic items they don't recognize, especially if they look sketchy. also, anything chemical, pretty much anything that doesn't look bought at a regular store

>Do they care if I have cracked copies of software or torrents of music/movies/games?

as data on your device, no
but don't travel with counterfeit stuff - even a music cd you burned yourself might make them suspicious

>Do they look through every flash drive/other form of removable storage you have with you?

no - they obviously find them, but unless anything appears sketchy, they don't care about them

>be fat rich American pig
>passport interrogator is also fat rich American pig
>Hesitate when he tries to make small talk completely irrelevant to me or my travels
>corralled into group of sad looking immigrants with crying kids
>forced to divulge my entire life story to get to leave the airport
This is why planes crash in america

I'm from the U.S. and have been traveling regularly for 10 years, domestic and international, with laptops, tablets, and smartphones, and have never once been asked to do anything special with them. Idk wtf you guys are talking about. Wiping your data? Encrypting your HD? Nobody gives a shit calm down. You put them in a basket and then they get scanned. End of story. Although I use apple, so maybe if you use something they're unfamiliar with they'll ask you to turn it on to make sure it's not a bomb, but I've never seen that nor have I ever even heard of that before today, so I doubt it.

this guys comp is obviously full of child porn

They made me take off my pants in a US airport back like in 2004 despite not being a sandnigger, bunch of faggots. TSA are like little niggers abusing the little power they have.

Flown into JFK and o'Hare several times in the past year, only thing I had was a swab run over my laptop, no turning on required.
UK citizen

> chinese let us brits through no problem at all
Besides that whole visa process thing, you mean?

>You don't think having an encrypted drive is a red flag? I heard certain types of encryption are illegal in the EU. see above.
Not an issue, I work in finance and audit areas and all data is encrypted - never been an issue on inter-EU or transatlantic flights

It's basically the only way to stay exempt from chinas rampant unregulated communism, kind of necessary if you want to come back anytime soon

Your post is literally incomprehensible.

I have never been asked to turn on my laptop/unencrypt it. Even if I was asked I would make a big scene and refuse to comply. I travel a lot between Peru and the United States. After a trip to the Netherlands I have received a full clothed pat down every time I go through the TSA check. I have yet to go behind the curtains to have my asshole checked. I think that my travel history makes me look like a drug smuggler and or cartel associate. Even with me being put on some sort of list I have never had a problem with the TSA and my ChinkPad

>Peru
Well yeah, you're the second largest cocaine paste producer only behind Culombia and were first until like 2 years ago when they ramped up production again.
Flying to the Netherlands is a big ass red flag for anything drug related as well negro, you're probably on a list, not even memeing.

>Do they search all of your storage?
no
>What are they looking for?
nothing
>Do they care if I have cracked copies of software or torrents of music/movies/games?
no, even the gvt dl porn and shit
>Do they look through every flash drive/other form of removable storage you have with you?
no

> I heard certain types of encryption are illegal in the EU
fake news

My gf is from Ternopil :)

(:

>Do they search all of your storage?
going into france probably not, going back possibly
>What are they looking for? What is a red flag to them?
fde
>Do they care if I have cracked copies of software or torrents of music/movies/games?
nope
>Do they look through every flash drive/other form of removable storage you have with you?
if they find it, so probably not
>I've been doing some research on the process and seeing horror stories of people having their computers/phones confiscated for months, having to give over passwords etc. all in the name of "searching for kiddie pr0n".
shit happens, but it's not all that common
>This question may be better suited for Sup Forums or /trv/, what do you think?
i figure /trv/ probably has some insight to offer, but keep in mind that it's a very slow board

When I travel from US to HK, they didn't even check your luggage after landing. No question asked.

Never been to the Land Of The Free (TM) but I've never been asked to unlock my devices.
I'd be too chicken of missing my flight and having to spend moneyzz to buy a new one that I'd probably let then see, then change all my passwords as soon as I get on the other way of the checkpoint.
You should see the blog post of Cockli Vincent dude, he had all his electronics taken away from him. SSD, laptop, phone, usb cables, and even headphones as these can be plugged into a computer. Really the land of the free.
I had my T H I C C thinkpad taken away from the main line at the scanning, went several time into the scanner. "Is that your laptop sir?" then the dude had a look at it on several angles then hand it down to me saying that it was "thicker than usual laptops and that he just wanted to be sure."

i haven't been on Sup Forums for a while, is this a new meme? or is there genuinely something in that post that makes it sound like it was written by a girl

>have pirated copyright material installed

How can they know if it's pirated or not?

>i have time to select a reaction image, attach it, tag two replies, type my comment, and answer a captcha
>but I don't have time to read every field

yes and i'm sorry ok! i agree with whatever you say
>every field
but what do you even mean by every field? reply post fields?

i travelled from Serbia to Russia, and they just asked me to turn on the laptop, nothing else. All my programs and music is pirated, and i have 3gb of Sup Forums folder. No one checked anything

which country are you going to? but in general, in the civilized world, immigration police will not anally rape and strip search you and go through our files like you're some kind of criminal. so enjoy coming here without worries, if you happen to have CP on your laptop, maybe take the extra precaution to encrypt it, just to be safe. anything else is fine.

once you go back you'll be subject to your own countrie's very humane and friendly security procedures though; either circumvent this by asking for asylum here and never returning to trumpistan, or maybe encrypt your drive? I dunno, you should know more about procedures back home, I can just say how things are over here, people will treat you with respect.

oh and do us and yourself a favor and pay attention to how loud you're talking when in public. I can always hear Amerifats yapping from 30 meters away.

Never needed to do that once. I've flown to Europe at least twice a year the last 6 years

>and i have 3gb of Sup Forums folder.
they were just checking if you were missing some proofs memes on your folder so they could add them

>Do they search all of your storage?
They can if they want to.

>What are they looking for? What is a red flag to them?
Any suspicious behavior, name, or appearance.

>Do they care if I have cracked copies of software or torrents of music/movies/games?
Yes.

>Do they look through every flash drive/other form of removable storage you have with you?
They can if they want to.

Remove anything private or illegal from your computer before you cross a US border. Or just put another hard drive in it temporarily. Then if they confiscate it, you still have all of your data at home.

I'm going to France from the US for a foreign-exchange school program. I've heard US customs is strict so I plan to just wipe everything when I return to the states as I have backups of everything at home.

I'm not taking anything along the lines of porn. Just cracked software and games/movies for while I'm over there because I'm not sure how France is about torrent traffic.

I'll do my best to be quiet.

So you're saying it's not safe to take an encrypted external drive with everything I want? It seems like everyone in this thread is reassuring me I have nothing to worry about.

what the fuck is this a thing?

I never even considered that that could happen I've never traveled alone, last time I went anywhere abroad (to the US in this case) was in 2014 and I was still only 18.

I've only traveled inside Europe and they have never checked any storage or electronic device at all. You just have to place your electronics in those plastic trays and run them through the scanner. If the metal detector beeps on you, either as a supposedly random check or because you still have metal on you, a guard will use a handheld detector to figure out what's going on. You may be asked to take off your shoes and run those through the scanner too. If you still have anything in your pockets, those items also go through the scanner.

As for my electronics, they have absolutely never cared at all beyond running it through the scanner while turned off. I've never even been asked to turn on a laptop or my phone. Security is very quick, if you know what you're doing and placed all your shit in those trays beforehand while you're queuing you basically just walk through and may not even actually speak to anyone there. There's a checkpoint before the actual security verification where they ask for a passport or ID, though with those new-fangled biometric passports (I don't have one) you can scan it yourself at an automated checkpoint and pass straight through.

Understood. I'm glad to hear that things aren't as intrusive as they seem, and you're right I should do my best to just keep my head low.

Well, I don't know what it's like when a US flight is involved, to be fair. Still I'm inclined to believe it's not too terrible, since I've had a friend travel from there to the EU with like 10 new phones and several graphics cards in his luggage which would normally need to go through customs AFAIK and he didn't pay shit, just went through. I can't imagine them being too thorough if that's possible.

Note that all this doesn't mean they cannot search you if they decide to do so, it's just that I've never seen it happen. Most of my travel is work related, so I don't particularly worry about having anything they could object about on the company-owned laptop.

if you're really paranoid, just get a travel laptop (hell, it's not even that suspicious, and the US govt has said to do exactly that when traveling to some locations, like China); same thing with your phone if you're really paranoid
that being said having traveled out of and back into the US about a dozen times, thrice into and from Europe, I've never been intensively searched and have never had to open my laptop or anything
dunno if they'd give a foreign national more shit though, but I doubt they're gonna bother an ordinary looking French person

literally never have had to
you're expected to keep a charge so you can turn it on if they ask, but I've never been made to actually turn it on

Airports have 0 reason to check the data on your laptop. They're only checking if you're carrying weapons or drugs, the x-ray search will show that.

Anyone anti trump deserves extensive screening

Kek'd