In many countries your phone and laptop can be inspected, copied, or held when you enter. The most reliable way to protect sensitive files is not to carry them. Keep a SpaceBox on a device that stays home, send your files to it before you fly, and travel with a device that has nothing on it.
Borders are where your data is most reachable. Officers in many countries can ask you to unlock a phone or laptop, look through what is on it, and in some places copy the contents or hold the device. Public and hotel networks can see what you send over them. And anything you can open on an unlocked device, including a cloud account, is within reach of whoever is holding it.
Encryption on a device that has already been unlocked does not help, because the files are readable once you are signed in. The protection that holds up is having nothing sensitive on the device in the first place. That is the approach these guides are built around.
Turn a device that stays home into your SpaceBox: a spare phone, a laptop, or a desktop in a country you trust. Its keys are generated on that device and never leave it.
From your own phone, send the documents you would not want inspected to your home SpaceBox. They are encrypted on your phone before they leave and sealed to the home device.
As a sender, the app keeps no copy of what you sent and holds no account or personal data. A search of the device you carry finds nothing sensitive to read.
While you are away, anyone you invite can send documents straight to your home SpaceBox, so new files never land on the device you are travelling with.
Everything is encrypted on the sending device with AES-256-GCM, under keys exchanged with post-quantum ML-KEM-768. The private key stays on your home SpaceBox, and our servers hold ciphertext only. The free tier covers 100 MB and 100 files, which is enough for a lot of documents; a free voucher doubles it, and SpaceBox Ground adds more room for larger archives.
General guidance, not legal advice. Laws and travel advisories change often; read the official advisory for your destination and nationality before you travel. SpaceBox is not available to residents of the EU and EEA during the beta.
Border Force can examine and copy device data, and hold a device if you refuse. How to arrive with nothing sensitive on it.
People have been detained over critical posts, even for liking one, and device checks reach your phone. How to arrive with nothing sensitive on it.
Authorities have prosecuted people over social media posts, and device checks reach what is on your phone. How to arrive with nothing sensitive on it.
A Do Not Travel destination where digital activity critical of the government can lead to detention. If you go, how to carry nothing sensitive.
A royal-insult law jails people for content deemed to insult the King, including online. How to arrive with nothing sensitive on your device.
CBSA can search phones and laptops without a warrant and will ask for your password. How to arrive with nothing sensitive on it.
A U.S. State Department Level 2 destination with exit bans, and rules that let officers inspect and copy the data on your phone at the border. How to arrive with nothing on it.
People have been detained over social media posts and online groups, and device checks reach what is on your phone. How to travel with nothing sensitive on it.
Refusing to give police your device passwords is now a criminal offence, even on arrival. How to arrive with nothing sensitive to reveal.
A Do Not Travel destination with a serious risk of wrongful detention, where online content is policed. If you go, how to carry nothing sensitive.
A Level 3 destination where devices are searched at checkpoints and social media can lead to detention. How to arrive with nothing sensitive on it.
Cybercrime agents monitor public social media, and device checks reach what is on your phone. How to arrive with nothing sensitive on it.
A Do Not Travel destination that detains people over posts and even private messages critical of the military. If you go, how to carry nothing sensitive.
Border officers can require you to unlock a device, with a NZ$5,000 fine for refusing. How to arrive with nothing sensitive on it.
A cybercrime law reaches social media and content critical of the state, and device checks reach your phone. How to arrive with nothing sensitive on it.
A Do Not Travel destination where devices are searched at the border and people are detained over posts. If you go, how to carry nothing sensitive.
A U.S. State Department Level 3 destination where customs can inspect devices and a broad cyber-crime law governs content. What that means for your phone, and how to arrive with nothing on it.
The lese-majeste law reaches social media and foreigners, with severe prison terms. How to arrive with nothing sensitive on your device.
Criticism of the government, including on social media, can lead to arrest and exit bans, and officers can examine your device. How to carry nothing sensitive.
A broad cybercrime law reaches ordinary social media, and content on your phone is read under it. How to arrive with nothing sensitive on the device.
Under Schedule 7, officers can examine devices with no suspicion and compel passwords. How to arrive with nothing sensitive on your device.
U.S. Customs can search devices with no suspicion, and several governments now warn US-bound travelers. How to arrive with nothing sensitive on your device.
Online dissent is prosecuted under state-security laws, and device checks reach your phone. How to arrive with nothing sensitive on it.
Guides now cover the Gulf, the wider Middle East, East and Southeast Asia, and Eurasia. Heading somewhere not listed here? Tell us and we will add it.
A 30-day add-on bought inside the app; it raises your quota for the trip and stacks with a free voucher.
Set up a SpaceBox at home, send your files to it before you go, and carry a device with nothing on it. Free to start, no card, no email.