Occasional travelers don’t pay much attention to the safety of their electronic devices. Meanwhile, experienced travelers know all about broken smartphones and smashed laptops. You shouldn’t rely on the airport workers to handle your electronic devices as they would their own.
Besides keeping your devices physically intact, there are other safety concerns that have to do with snooping, copying, and even seizing. When you travel to other countries, your smartphone is subject to certain laws, which may include violation of privacy.
Let’s talk about protecting your devices and keeping the information on them secure.
1. Don’t Stow Laptops In The Overhead Bin
Even if your laptop seems safe in its special bag, the baggage in the overhead bin can break it. During take-off, landing or turbulence, the plane can shake, which leads to the luggage sliding back and forth in the overhead bins. Your laptop may end up under someone’s heavy bag or smashed against the wall.
Take the laptop with you and stow it under the seat.
2. Don’t Leave Your Electronic Devices In The Car
If you leave your laptop or smartphone lying around your car anywhere other than in the trunk, it becomes a bait for thieves. Even if you lock the car, many criminals don’t mind breaking the window to get what they need.
Always carry your electronic devices with you or store them in the trunk. Make sure you close windows and doors before leaving the vehicle.
3. Take Your Laptop To The Plane With You
Leaving laptops in the checked-in suitcase is a sure way to get a broken one at the destination. In the majority of the airports, suitcases undergo rough handling. The bags are thrown around, stored one on top of another, and so on.
Delicate electronic devices have little chances of surviving such handling. Unless you are sure it’s safely packed in the suitcase, take the laptop with you.
4. Disable Network Access
Not many people bother to secure their phones when traveling. Meanwhile, our electronic devices are often open to various connections, thus being easy prey for hackers. While traveling, a full connection is rarely required. That’s why it may be a good idea to disable network protocol.
Ottawa IT services experts from Firewall Technical recommend turning the airplane mode on to keep your smartphone safe.
5. Back up Your Information
In different countries, laptops may be subject to seizing, searching, and wiping the information. That’s why it’s vital to back up all your data before traveling. In case you don’t want anyone to see your private information, you can back it up on a cloud and access it again once you leave the airport.
Consider doing this with your photos unless you want strangers looking at your pictures or even copying them.
6. Sign Out And Clear The Browser History
We tend to be signed in to numerous services on our electronic devices. Before traveling, consider signing out and deleting cookies and browser history on your laptop and smartphone. Any app or program which has personal information is subject to search and copy by the border security.
7. Consider Buying A Cheap Device
If you have an opportunity to take a cheap device with you while traveling, do it. You won’t be as upset if it suddenly gets damaged or seized at the airport. If you are going on a vacation, you unlikely need the capacity of an expensive laptop or smartphone. Think about leaving them at home.
8. Avoid A Second Line Search
Electronic devices are rarely checked at the first line search. When you are passing border agents, they won’t touch your laptop or smartphone. However, if they believe you appear suspicious, they may send you to the second line check, during which your devices may be searched.
It’s up to you to have all the documents in order and answer questions clearly in order to avoid frustrating checks and keep your devices safe.
