Are media screened when entering/leaving the US?

MexanizM2012-03-13 16:30:23

Hard disks

MexanizM, 2012-03-13 16:30:23

The question is addressed to real people and how it happened with them. Real precedents are few and contradictory.

A hard drive will be transported, nothing top secret: music, movies, photos, documents, software. It is clear that not all licenses, or rather almost nothing (:

Two encrypted partitions are planned, one inside the other. The first one, if asked, will open and there will be only pictures and everything licensed, and the second everything else.

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20 answer(s)

Alexander, 2012-03-13
Yankovskiy @Suncheez

I had a joke with the Ukrainian customs. I brought a 1U rack server to a friendly colocation. The customs officers then pretty amused me when they asked me to turn it on. Well, I turned it on... The server squealed with fans like a victim (they always do that). Customs is screwed up. They asked me to show what was on the hard drives. I asked for a keyboard, mouse and monitor. They thought, then thought some more and got rid of it.
So take a rack-mount server. By train! :D

ratkke, 2012-03-13
@ratkke

I took with me to America a hard drive with approximately the same content. And on the plane, not in luggage. They didn’t check anything, I don’t understand where such fears come from :)

vsviridov, 2012-03-15
@vsviridov

A friend at customs turned on the computer, asked to log in, climbed through the photo album and browser history.

pluser, 2012-03-13
@pluser

Fact: about two months ago they sent a laptop to the states in luggage, there was nothing superfluous on it, although the display was removed (it was necessary).
All in a box, closed, packed.
They disassembled the laptop, took out the screw and did not even begin to assemble it back, given that it was a piece of extremely important equipment, the inoperability of which could lead to trouble with five zeros in dollar terms.
But it worked, and everything worked out, and so they honestly glued the box with their security stickers, so it became immediately noticeable that they were climbing.

Kiborg777, 2012-03-15
@Kiborg777

I was checked when I left the USA (selective check), despite the fact that I am a US citizen. They were looking, of course, not for pirated programs, but they asked to turn on the computer and looked at several directories on the disk.
You have to take into account a few points: the problem of pirated software in the US is almost non-existent, but pirated movies and pirated music are many. Therefore, transfer music through Dropbox, bring programs with you (in the tryecrypt section), but it’s better not to take movies with you - if they suddenly find it, it will be very unpleasant (a lifetime ban on entering the USA is at best).

edogs, 2012-03-13
@edogs

Inside, there probably isn’t much point in hiding performance, and indeed, whether there will be extra glitches.
Truecrypt supports the creation of an "invisible" section, i.e. it just looks like an unallocated area until you plug it in. IMHO the best option.

izmalk, 2012-03-13
@izmalk

I will say right away that there is no practical experience. But something tells me that if you put it in a box and transport it with a ribbon and put it in a chumodan, then even if they get it, it will give a ride to say that this is a gift. Double encryption of partitions, in principle, is also not bad, they are unlikely to be delayed because of this (you will say that the disk was bought from hand as a gift, for example, what is on it - xs, you have never heard of any truecryptuses and you don’t know any passwords), the maximum disk will be taken away or formatted.

try4tune, 2012-03-13
@try4tune

I didn’t fly to America, but how many flew around Europe - no one has ever been interested in a laptop.

t0os, 2012-03-13
@t0os

No one has ever checked, neither on domestic flights, nor on international ones. I have a hard time imagining it, to be honest.)

Sergey Aganezov, 2012-03-13
@Karde

What is in the USA, what is from the USA, if you do not arouse suspicion, no one will watch your digital media. To arouse suspicion, you need to be really involved in something, and not just carry movies on a disk. So calm down, everything is fine, you don't need to encrypt anything!

kbtsiberkin, 2012-03-13
@kbtsiberkin

They didn’t check the laptop either on Moscow-New York flights, much less on domestic ones, they didn’t even ask to turn it on. An external hard drive and a bunch of flash drives were lying side by side in a bag, so I didn’t even take them out of there.

Akson87, 2012-03-13
@Akson87

Real experience - not tested. I was only asked to turn on the laptop when returning to Ukraine. The Germans, like the fotik, took out and took one shot. If you do not arouse suspicion, then no one really needs you, and there are experienced people who can distinguish a suspicious person from an unsuspicious one.

nfedyk, 2012-03-13
@nfedyk

No problem, took the drive and 6 computers with me last week on a domestic flight.

jj_killer, 2012-03-14
@jj_killer

Even if they find something, they do not have the authority to determine the legality of content. Now, if you are carrying blueprints for some kind of bomb, then yes, there may be problems.

mihavxc, 2012-03-14
@mihavxc

Real experience - not tested.
As already mentioned earlier, if they are not involved in anything suspicious, then there will be no problems.

Antelle, 2012-03-14
@Antelle

Well, let them check. It is impossible to prove the presence or absence of TC Hidden Volume.

Sergey40a, 2012-03-14
@Sergey40a

If you are afraid of something like this, then it is better to play it safe, just in case. Well, for complete peace of mind, so to speak.
Important content (documents, photos) - to the cloud. An unimportant one (one that can always be restored from open sources) - somewhere on another partition (which will later be hidden), in a VHD file, or even packed, renamed to DLL and thrown into C:\Windows. That is, to hide in any of the simplest ways, which is implemented in 10 minutes. So that at first glance it cannot be determined, and so that its removal does not cause damage.
As for the cloud - if the free DropBox or similar services are not enough - LiveDrive won for $ 8.5 per month allows you to backup an unlimited size. There are also analogues.

powder96, 2012-03-15
@powder96

Carrying HDD (empty) — externally examined at the exit from Russia. Then they just x-rayed it. IMHO, they did not watch the contents, because. it would be a hemorrhage - to find somewhere a computer with satay, plug it in there ...

kefirux, 2012-03-15
@kefirux

In front of customs in New Zealand, I also remember getting scared and quickly formatting the external drive. But in vain. Now I sit missing movies

Sergei Nedder, 2012-04-27
@Nedder

Buy a 64 GB memory card. Throw the archive there, then the card in the mobile phone.