The easiest thing to do is to simply not take electronic devices with you anywhere in the world, otherwise there is a slight risk of someone wanting to understand the information contained within it.
If you think there is a risk, and you take a device, obviously FDE is a requirement, although, that could be seen as "suspicious".
The easiest thing to do is to fill up TB's of HDD's with useless information. Random pictures, documents, perhaps thousands of people's contact information downloaded from a public source. Store any "important" documents as random file names, perhaps inside archives or volumes that need decrypting. Or not at all, instead "in the cloud" but still encrypted so that you can travel without worrying about somebody accessing your information. Make deliberate "suspicious" file names, make them believe a file is encrypted (a 50GB file named "totally not a hidden volume.hiddenvolume") and maybe they will waste time trying to open the volume only to realize it contains thousands of pictures of naked molerats.
Clearly you need to be smart about crossing borders with electronic information these days, and not having any with you seems to be the best course of action.
This why you keep the stuff you can't show people in the cloud encrypted with a password only you know. Once you get to the border you can't really argue any longer. That said, the US really needs a new amendment spelling out digital freedom and privacy rights. The old farts in Congress don't see information on devices as information portrayed in the constitution. Information is information and the Constitution laid out methods for handling it long ago that are far superior to what our current idiots in charge seem to be able to handle. About the only ones we have paritally on our side are judges who actually know the constitution rather than pay it lip service; those types are also becoming rare.
> The easiest thing to do is to simply not take electronic devices with you anywhere in the world, otherwise there is a slight risk of someone wanting to understand the information contained within it.
I think people seriously misunderstand the range that the Border Patrol has--its far more than the US and Canadian borders. Portland Oregon, for example, is within their grasps due to the coast + 100 miles being considered part of the border.
So, you could be never leave the country and be caught up in their web quite easily. I wouldn't be surprised if 70% of the population of the US lived within their range.
Genuinely curious - what would be an example of how border patrol might exert influence over someone not crossing international boundaries? For example, if I live in an apartment in Portland, under what circumstances might USBP decide to search my computers/phone/etc.?
That's easy to answer: the beginning of international waters is defined as a certain distance from the border.
Which is the coastline, for the most part; international law considers countries to control land, and lakes, bays (some) and harbors, but not the seas and oceans.
Full disk encryption isn't suspicious. It's standard on many corporate devices, and corporate travelers cross the border with them constantly.
However, the encryption would not protect you against this problem. They may ask for the password to decrypt the volume and deny you entry to the country if you refuse to provide it.
"The easiest thing to do is to simply not take electronic devices with you anywhere in the world"
That sounds monumentally complicated and not easy at all. I understand that a tiny percentage of highly engaged techies can manage what you are talking about, but 99% of people cannot.
If you think there is a risk, and you take a device, obviously FDE is a requirement, although, that could be seen as "suspicious".
The easiest thing to do is to fill up TB's of HDD's with useless information. Random pictures, documents, perhaps thousands of people's contact information downloaded from a public source. Store any "important" documents as random file names, perhaps inside archives or volumes that need decrypting. Or not at all, instead "in the cloud" but still encrypted so that you can travel without worrying about somebody accessing your information. Make deliberate "suspicious" file names, make them believe a file is encrypted (a 50GB file named "totally not a hidden volume.hiddenvolume") and maybe they will waste time trying to open the volume only to realize it contains thousands of pictures of naked molerats.
Clearly you need to be smart about crossing borders with electronic information these days, and not having any with you seems to be the best course of action.