Photos and Texts on Smart Phones???

[+ Axiom2001]

I have had a smartphone for about four years but have yet to use it, for I am still living in the 20th century with my flip, a device that I have only seldom used when I have been away from home. I acknowledge that this is bizarre, but I've been all right up to this point.

 

During this year some situations (business and well as social) have arisen that required one's use of a smartphone for all facets of communication. I have concluded that I will have to adapt and use Youtube to be trained to use this sleek device, but I have a question that I'd hope can be answered by those who have used a smartphone since its inception.

 

Can photos as well as texts be deleted from one's smartphone? apts? I'll await your kind words? A

[+ Hoover42]

... Can photos as well as texts be deleted from one's smartphone? apts? ...

I've used both Android and iOS phones, and in every case I've been able to delete photos and text messages at any time. Similarly, calendar appointments can also be deleted from the phone at any time.

 

Data kept on modern smartphones is encrypted these days and, if protected by a sufficiently complex password, is very difficult for a non-state actor to access.

 

Note that in some cases, photos, texts, and appointments are stored remotely in servers using services provided by the phone provider. For example using iCloud service offered by Apple. However, if you're concerned, you can avoid or disable these services and keep everything locally on the phone.

 

One other cautionary note, don't count on good phone hygiene to protect your data if you travel across the border. Agents there can and sometimes do confiscate phones without explanation, and they can compel you to unlock your phone or reveal your password.

Edited November 21, 2020 by Hoover42

[orville]

If you have other Apple devices you only have to be careful with the Photos app configurations that streams your photos to all your other devices. Ultimately, yes, you can always delete photos from your albums stored in iCloud.

[+ Charlie]

If you have other Apple devices you only have to be careful with the Photos app configurations that streams your photos to all your other devices. Ultimately, yes, you can always delete photos from your albums stored in iCloud.

Any photo I take with my phone shows up shortly afterwards on my iPad as well. However, if I delete it on my phone, it also immediately disappears from my iPad, too.

[orville]

Any photo I take with my phone shows up shortly afterwards on my iPad as well. However, if I delete it on my phone, it also immediately disappears from my iPad, too.

That's correct @Charlie , because both Apple devices (up to 5) can share the same Photos App, when synchronized via iCloud.

I believe one can choose to enable/disable this, so If someone gets 1 of your devices won't have access to your photos/videos.

[Guest]

Technically, if you are super concerned about privacy of data on the device, you could “reset” the phone for a hard erase of everything as often as you want. Beyond extreme measures like this, any item (photo, contact, text) can be individually deleted. But anything you’ve transmitted over public WiFi or the web is theoretically subject to being compromised.

 

@Hoover42, I’ve not heard of border confiscation...where is this happening?

[+ Hoover42]

@Hoover42, I’ve not heard of border confiscation...where is this happening?

US Customs and Border Patrol search thousands of phones and laptops every year of travelers entering the US, whether or not they are US citizens. See:

 

CBP Releases Updated Border Search of Electronic Device Directive and FY17 Statistics

and

EFF Article on Border Searches

 

If you refuse to unlock the device they can confiscate it with vague promises that it will be returned to you once they're done with it. There are plenty of horror stories about US Citizens being detained for hours at the border and having their phones and laptops confiscated if they refuse to allow a search. They have tools that can unlock many devices depending on the model, version of the OS, and password strength.

Edited November 24, 2020 by Hoover42

[+ Cock Eyed Optimist]

US Customs and Border Patrol search thousands of phones and laptops every year of travelers entering the US, whether or not they are US citizens. See:

 

CBP Releases Updated Border Search of Electronic Device Directive and FY17 Statistics

and

EFF Article on Border Searches

 

If you refuse to unlock the device they can confiscate it with vague promises that it will be returned to you once their done with it. There are plenty of horror stories about US Citizens being detained for hours at the border and having their phones and laptops confiscated if they refuse to allow a search. They have tools that can unlock many devices depending on the model, version of the OS, and password strength.

 

Wow! Would nude adult photos be reason for concern?

[orville]

There are plenty of horror stories about US Citizens being detained for hours at the border and having their phones and laptops confiscated if they refuse to allow a search. They have tools that can unlock many devices depending on the model, version of the OS, and password strength.

This is horrible!

[thedanNYC]

Wow! Would nude adult photos be reason for concern?

 

No, having those is not illegal.

[+ Axiom2001]

Thanks to all who responded to my question. All of you have assured me what transpires. Now I just have to begin using and taking full advantage of all the money I've paid out during the possession of my smartphone.

[Guest]

Having immigration authorities go through your cell phone isn't always a bad thing. A few weeks ago, I flew a Colombian citizen to meet me in Puerto Vallarta. Along with all of the other Colombian citizens on the Aeromexico flight from Bogota to Mexico City, he was held in a small room for hours and questioned. Even though he had a return flight ticket home (in business class, no less), they only let him in after going through his cell phone records and seeing all of his lovey-dovey texts with me (which convinced them I would take care of him financially while he was in Mexico).

[+ Charlie]

Having immigration authorities go through your cell phone isn't always a bad thing. A few weeks ago, I flew a Colombian citizen to meet me in Puerto Vallarta. Along with all of the other Colombian citizens on the Aeromexico flight from Bogota to Mexico City, he was held in a small room for hours and questioned. Even though he had a return flight ticket home (in business class, no less), they only let him in after going through his cell phone records and seeing all of his lovey-dovey texts with me (which convinced them I would take care of him financially while he was in Mexico).

Did you get a visit from authorities to confirm that you were a reliable source of financial support for him?

[Guest]

Did you get a visit from authorities to confirm that you were a reliable source of financial support for him?

No, of course not. Mexican authorities are concerned about people going to Mexico in order to try to get to the US. Guatemalan citizens need a visa to go to Mexico unless they have a visa to the US, in which case they don't need a Mexican visa.

[thedanNYC]

Having immigration authorities go through your cell phone isn't always a bad thing. A few weeks ago, I flew a Colombian citizen to meet me in Puerto Vallarta. Along with all of the other Colombian citizens on the Aeromexico flight from Bogota to Mexico City, he was held in a small room for hours and questioned. Even though he had a return flight ticket home (in business class, no less), they only let him in after going through his cell phone records and seeing all of his lovey-dovey texts with me (which convinced them I would take care of him financially while he was in Mexico).

 

I really thought you were going to say that immigration officials discovered that the guy is a serial killer, and so they saved you from certain death. I don't see the helpfulness of the intrusive immigration check carried out without any particularized suspicion here (except it seems perhaps with respect to the Mexican government's pursuit of some odd US-related "issue"). I'm sure that your friend would've preferred to go on with his day without spending hours being questioned by Mexican authorities.

 

That kind of overreach is particularly bad in cases where it affects that country's own citizens, who have a right to enter the country free from harassment. That can happen in the US, as @Hoover42 pointed out, so you might be the one stuck in a room for hours next time you fly back from abroad. If it happens, please do let us know if you think it wasn't a bad thing.

[Guest]

He came in without any money. Had they not gone through his phone, he would have been sent back to Colombia.

[thedanNYC]

He came in without any money. Had they not gone through his phone, he would have been sent back to Colombia.

 

That might be true, but the authorities only knew that he didn't have cash because they subjected him to the interrogation. And, unless you were meeting up with a hobo, this could have been a short interaction if the issue was simply that your friend didn't have any Colombian currency on him. I'm assuming that he could/did say that he has an ATM card or credit card that he can/was planning to use while in Mexico to obtain/pay in local currency. If he instead said that he was destitute and that some mysterious American is his ATM machine, then I guess the hours-long detainment and interrogation makes more sense.

 

I know you weren't trying to justify the government's actions other than to say that you think your trip wouldn't have worked without them. But I hope you see that's not necessarily true. I just think that rationalizing government overreach is usually never good because, as the idiom says: if you give an inch, they'll take a mile.

[Guest]

...

I know you weren't trying to justify the government's actions other than to say that you think your trip wouldn't have worked without them. But I hope you see that's not necessarily true. I just think that rationalizing government overreach is usually never good because, as the idiom says: if you give an inch, they'll take a mile.

Well, I do agree that just because one crosses the border shouldn't give the government the right to unfettered access to one's personal data. However, the man I was meeting was, in fact, quite poor, and without credit cards. The phone data/texts enabled him to prove his ability to support himself while in Mexico. And all of the Colombians coming in underwent scrutiny, according to him. Colombians don't require a visa to enter Mexico, but it seems they get scrutiny upon entry. I probably won't be traveling with him again, even if things don't work out between "Quinn" and myself, because he spent most of our time together on his cell phone (though the sex was good), but if he were to come to Mexico again, things would probably go easier for him, as he established his willingness to go back to Colombia. This was, in fact, not only his first time out of the country, but his first time on an airplane as well.