Not bringing a laptop is probably not as suspicious as you'd expect, particularly given recent discussions of banning carry on laptops on flights from a large chunk of the world.

> Any tricks like leaving the battery empty, bringing a burner, not bringing a laptop and getting a loaner when you get there etc, they do nothing but raise suspicions.

as i said on another comment, even not having social media is suspicious. which is insane, because it means you cannot have privacy if you want to go to another country.

And I happen to not have social media, for real. Whoops. I need to go through U.S. Customs at least once a year. :(

i usually plan to travel to the us once a year for tourism. that's basically ending this year because of the way cbp treats foreigners.

i know at least another 5 people that are not going to the us because of that.

  > Good luck getting a visa next time if you've ever been
  > "denied entry".

I would not want neither visa nor "next time" after this. If they want their walls, let them have them.

> they do nothing but raise suspicions

Oh god, no. Technical measures - of course - do work. So does erasing data from phones, laptops, hard drives, etc.

Do not let the security theater scare you into obedience.

Again, this is not valid advice for non-citizens. If you're a citizen, sure, feel free to go through with an empty or password-protected device. Maybe you'll be detained for a while, inconvenienced, given a stern talking to, etc.

If you're not a citizen? You can be denied for literally anything the agent feels like. They feel you're suspicious because you claim (falsely or not) you don't have a facebook account? You're not coming in. Visa denied.

yup. cbp officers can deny your entry if they think blond hair is ugly.

> Visa denied.

you know what's shitty? i have a b1/b2 visa. cost me 100 usd and two working days. i also visited the us ~6 times, never overstayed by an hour. but even then, i'm suspicious because i'm brazilian (that's a theory, of course. i have no proof other than brazilian friends also having problems with cbp).

What you are describing is not the result of yourself protecting your privacy but the result of being found to be suspicious.

Not appearing suspicious is an important part of protecting your privacy. While it's true that acting stupid or careless can bring you in trouble this is not sufficient to deny the utility of privacy enhancing behavior.