Hi Peter, thanks for the AMA!

I work for an American company and I am based in Europe. I visit the US for work every now and then. I heard a lot of horror stories regarding border entries. If I am ever in a situation where the border police asks for access to my personal phone and pin code, what are my options? Can I refuse and what happens then?

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proberts a few seconds ago | parent | next [-]

You are within your rights to say no but if you say no, almost certainly CBP will assume that you are hiding something and deny you admission.

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stevenwoo an hour ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Border Patrol can wait longer than you want to wait at the airport, you should not bring your personal phone if you don't want them going through all the contents, they can hold your device for an inconvenient amount of time if you are an American citizen. If you say no and are not an American citizen you can be denied entry at the airport and sent home.

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monerozcash 41 minutes ago | parent | prev [-]

I think this EFF document probably provides a more comprehensive answer than what can be provided in a HN comment https://www.eff.org/files/2017/03/10/digital-privacy-border-...

Peter might have good insights on whether the relevant case law has changed since 2017 though.

	▲	lcc 5 minutes ago \| parent [-]
		The only relevant part from that document is this line from page 33: "Foreign visitors have the fewest rights... if a foreign visitor refuses a border agent’s demand to unlock their digital device, provide the device password, or provide social media information, and the agent responds by denying entry, the foreign visitor may have little legal recourse."