Don’t be oversmart and set your phone for auto-wiping

Border crossings can be a bit scary with Immigration etc. Another thing that some folks worry about is the data on the phone as in most countries the immigration and border security folks have the authority to check your phone/other devices and see the data you are carrying. If you search online you will find various ‘solutions’ to this problem ranging from carry a burner phone (and download the data once you clear immigration) to having a passcode that deliberately wipes the contents of that device if entered instead of the user’s unlock passcode. One user decided to implement the Auto-wipe functionality on his phone before entering the US and when Border Patrol asked for the passcode he gave the wipe code instead which wiped his phone. As expected the agents didn’t like this and he is now being prosecuted for giving border officials a code that wiped his phone. While it is technically legal to wipe your phone like this, my personal feeling is that it is better not to be over-smart…