cross-posted from: https://lemmygrad.ml/post/12376741

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?

  • SteveEnglish
    3·
    2 days ago

    As far as ICE goes, if you’re leaving, they don’t care much.
    The next 4 weeks are the bigger concern.

    For TSA. You’re right. Reboot to lock down your devices before getting to the TSA check.
    I can’t give much advice on the trans part. You’d know better than me.

    • Makan@lemmygrad.mlOPEnglish
      2·
      1 day ago

      Fair enough.

      Yeah, I will likely just wipe my tablet and laptop before leaving. I can set it up later.

  • WhoIzDisIz@lemmy.today
    3·
    2 days ago

    Older straight cis male here, so pardon me if I screw something up. Genuinely trying to help, but I admit I still struggle with old programming.

    Also, I’m not some security guru so confirm my technical suggestions for yourself.

    That said, my thoughts:

    • Try not being so specific as to when you’re leaving. “Soon” is useful enough without reducing the possible time frame to well under 10% of the possible dates for anyone who might somehow be cyberstalking you. I’m no opsec expert, but it seems to me that you should try being as vague as possible, whenever possible.

    • if you’re not planning on completely wiping your phone, consider setting up an app like the FOSS app Oblivion, which can wipe your phone under certain conditions similar to the person who made the news in the past week.

    • Alternatively, I’ve read you can set up an alternative profile as the main one on your phone - using it for a bit every day for superficial shit to build a genuine-looking usage history. I’ve never done this, so I can’t help much here. If you do this, and they question why there’s so little history (if they even get to the point where they can read it), tell them your old phone broke & you bought this used to replace it.

    • Also turn your phone off completely no later than upon arrival at the airport (the sooner, the better). I’ve recently read that an encrypted phone is thoroughly & completely secured when first turned on until you unlock it for the first time, so it will be unreadable to any three-letter agency no matter what tricks they have unless they have the unlock code (which you should probably also change the night before to give the phone time to process/perpetuate the change).

    • I presume you’re gonna go appearing as the sex your body currently most presents as to minimize potential unwanted attention.

    Sorry I can’t be more help, but hopefully I’ve mentioned something you didn’t know or think of. Much luck!

    • Makan@lemmygrad.mlOPEnglish
      1·
      1 day ago

      You are absolutely fine and your advice was definitely needed and helpful.

      I haven’t started HRT quite yet but will start in probably September.

      These are honestly quite good measures that I hadn’t thought of before.

      I am starring this for now.

    • someone@lemmy.today
      3·
      2 days ago

      I’ve recently read that an encrypted phone is thoroughly & completely secured when first turned on until you unlock it for the first time, so it will be unreadable to any three-letter agency no matter what tricks they have unless they have the unlock code (which you should probably also change the night before to give the phone time to process/perpetuate the change).

      This may not be true. It depends on the model of phone, version of the operating system, and other factors. Some agencies have tools to break into phones. They can break into BFU (Before First Unlock) in some situations, but not others. So I wouldn’t rely on this to be correct.