The list of countries where you need a burner phone will likely grow longer. Canada, Australia, UK, some developing countries, etc...

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jandrewrogers 2 hours ago | parent | next [-]

Governments maintain formal lists of countries for these types of things. I think people would be surprised how many diverse countries are on the formal lists. A number of European countries have been on them for years.

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866-RON-0-FEZ 2 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

Australia's been doing this forever.

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smdyc1 2 hours ago | parent [-]

We have? My international relatives have never been searched to that degree, if at all.

That said, the whole thing is overreach in any democratic society.

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866-RON-0-FEZ 26 minutes ago | parent | next [-]

I've binge watched enough Australian Border Patrol videos to know that:

1. You don't fuck around with Australian customs agents. Ever.

2. They make every other country look like complete lightweights, Americans and EU included. These guys will fine you AU $500 for half an eaten apple in your bag.

	▲	angry_octet 12 minutes ago \| parent [-]
		They may fine you for attempting to import a plant, but they won't imprison you in El Salvador for having liked a meme they don't like on US social media.

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Spooky23 an hour ago | parent | prev [-]

Read the stories about people who actually have this happen. You can usually figure out why they are targeted. That may not be just. But it is.

Customs agents are always given broad discretion and generally care about something.

Most normal folks will never intact with these issues. The last time I travelled internationally, they weren’t even doing secondary customs screening upon return to the US.