Comment by throwuxiytayq

1 day ago

Disgusting. I’ve never had to let anyone touch my phone in my entire life in any country I’ve visited.

Is there a list of countries that does this? At this point it’s obvious I won’t ever be traveling to the US, but I’m curious if genuinely authoritarian countries like China are actually less of a police state at the border than the USA.

I think almost all countries do this if your name is on a list (as this person's is). It's the nature of the lists and what gets your name added to them that varies from country to country.

I've been to China recently. No phone search whatsoever. Their Internet is behind the famous Great Firewall though, but there is no issue using a (foreigner-only) unlocked sim or e-sim to access the rest of the Internet.

I travelled to the US three times and once had my devices checked. Travelled to China more than 50 times, never had anything checked.