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.
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.
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.
Guides for other higher-risk destinations, including the UAE, Egypt, Türkiye and India, are in progress. Each will cover the official advisories, device and content risks, and the steps to travel without carrying sensitive files.
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.