Indonesian moving to Australia soon, I’m just concerned my laptop/phone will be checked for pirated content.

The general rule of thumb I’ve seen around the internet is “encrypt your drive”, which is easy enough. But the other approach typically says “bring a burner phone / laptop” which of course isn’t viable in my case.

Can anyone confirm on the legitimacy of these claims? I know I pirate light (““light”” compared to the vets here), but I’m just so paranoid that I could be held up and sent back home, because this might be my only shot.

  • DogMuffins
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    1 year ago

    Don’t be daft. Suspicious is not irrelevant when you’re trying to clear immigration after a long flight.

    Suspicious behaviour is, not surprisingly, a criteria which law enforcement considers when deciding whether detainment and more invasive searches are appropriate under the circumstances.

    After a long flight who want’s to be stuck in an interrogation room for hours debating the finer points of personal liberties and privacy… all because you don’t want to decrypt your pirate collection of the marvel cinematic universe, which is not illegal to have in your possession anyway.

    Is it a crime not to provide access to encrypted data? I honestly don’t know, I imagine it’s a complex legal question which depends on the circumstances. Even if you may lawfully decline, they could lawfully detain you while obtaining a court order.

    • gizzle@reddthat.com
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      1 year ago

      You don’t even have to talk to the police in the first place. If they ask about an encrypted drive, just don’t answer

      • DogMuffins
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        1 year ago

        Sure mate, you try that next time you’re going through immigration.

        • gizzle@reddthat.com
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          1 year ago

          Will do. I wouldn’t be committing any other crimes so would have literally nothing to worry about.

          Better yet, use a hidden partition.

          • Gutotito@kbin.social
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            1 year ago

            Better yet, use a hidden partition.

            That’d be my suggestion. I can’t imagine that the average airport security goon is going to check the reported size of the drive against the hardware specs as part of a normal inspection.

            • gizzle@reddthat.com
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              1 year ago

              AFAIK that information isn’t even visible with veracrypt, correct me if I’m wrong though

              Dont think it is, aslong as the container is not mounted

          • DogMuffins
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            1 year ago

            A hidden partition is entirely different proposition as you have plausible deniability, and you’re right - if you really had to pass immigration with it this is the way to do it.

            That said, it’s just not worth it for a tv series or what not. Just delete it and download it again.