When Alexander, an Asian research scientist at a top US university, was getting ready for a work trip to Brazil, his preparations took an unusual turn — he consulted his lawyer, brought along a burner phone and carried a blank laptop. Once his work was complete, he uploaded his data to the cloud then scrubbed the machine clean before flying home. “I was advised to keep zero data on my devices,” he said. It was “extraordinarily disruptive”.
With Donald Trump back in the White House, many corporate executives, academics and government officials in Europe and elsewhere are approaching trips to the US with a level of caution more often associated with higher-risk jurisdictions such as China and some countries in the Middle East.
Stricter immigration enforcement and more aggressive border screenings — which can include searching and even copying data from travellers’ devices and, at times, denying entry — are prompting organisations to reassess the risks and protocols around even routine work travel. Contacts, emails, messages and social media posts could be subject to inspection, immigration lawyers said.