Travelling to the US and need to detox your phone? Here's how
Digital footprints have become a bigger-than-ever talking point for those looking to visit the US. Recent developments allow for Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents to carry out searches of mobile phones at checkpoints. It was announced today that
students will be asked to unlock social media profiles
to allow officials to review their online activity before being granted educational and exchange visas.
Failing to do so means being suspected of hiding activity from US officials. Among the reasons for checks being carried out are 'any indications of hostility toward the citizens, culture, government, institutions, or founding principles of the United States'.
Online forums are blowing up with questions about how to sanitise devices and digital footprints in advance of visa requests or before entering the country. Here are a few steps you can take to reduce the risk of being turned away.
READ MORE
Now that you've hopefully taken a few deep breaths, assess your surface-level online presence. Consider deleting any social media posts that raise red flags.
A simple principle to go by with your device is 'out of sight out of mind'. Don't underestimate the power of a printed boarding pass, and carrying travel documents with you in paper format. Turn your phone off and stow it away in your bag or pocket before approaching a CBP agent, cross your fingers and hope to fly under the radar.
However, it's advisable to be more thorough with your methods. Expert suggestions range from pre-screening and making modifications to your personal smartphone before travelling – including deleting incriminating photos, messages and inessential apps – to investing in a clean travel device.
When it comes to modifying your current phone, Apple and Google have recently made it possible to add an extra shield of authentication to apps you may want to hide by placing them in a separate folder.
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Android's 'private spaces' can also be turned on in the security and privacy settings menu of your phone, while prolonged pressing of an app on iOS will present the option to place it in a hidden folder. Do with that information what you like.
Now it might sound extreme, but privacy and digital rights advocates largely favour building a travel device from scratch. In saying that, it's important to beware that a phone that is too squeaky clean can arouse suspicion, doing more harm than good.
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Starting off with a clean slate is one way to practise 'data minimisation', reducing the data available to another person. Put just what you'll need for a trip on the phone; maybe you want to include alternate social media accounts [ie a 'finsta' – a fake Insta(gram) account where you haven't posted anything that could be deemed controversial] and a separate account for end-to-end encrypted communications using an app like WhatsApp.
By building from the ground up, you're able to be selective with what can potentially turn up during a manual search.
In cases where CBP deems 'reasonable suspicion' of a crime, it may say a more thorough
'advanced search'
could be carried out. This is where a device is connected to external equipment and its contents can be reviewed, copied, or analysed.
Digital rights groups like San Francisco-based
Electronic Frontier Foundation
have developed a range of in-depth tool kits dedicated to promoting '
surveillance self-defence
'.
While it is yet to be seen how hard US border control will be clamping down, it's better to be safe than sorry.
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Irish Times
18 hours ago
- Irish Times
Holiday car hire: here are the pitfalls to watch out for
The rush to the airport aside, the most stressful element of every holiday for many people is hiring a car. No matter how far in advance you have booked the vehicle, and the care you have taken to make sure you are fully covered to drive it, a battle of wills at the pickup desk is near unavoidable. Different rules in different jurisdictions don't help, nor does the patchwork of consumer protection in different countries. And if a US report that last minute 'add-ons' account for 10 per cent of all car hire profit are true, you can see why counter staff might be so keen to flog extras at the desk. So what should you expect when you arrive, perspiring and with family and luggage in tow, at the pickup desk? And what should set off alarms? First things first: don't rush. The obvious temptation is to grab the keys and head for your villa or hotel room but that could prove a very expensive mistake. READ MORE [ Beware the car hire honey trap Opens in new window ] Take the time to read the contract and, yes, that includes the small print which is where you could find yourself hamstrung financially. And make sure to ask for an all-in figure on the cost you are signing up to. Insurance It is almost inevitable that whomever you are dealing with will try to sell you additional insurance cover. Some adopt more of a hard sell approach than others. In general, it is not necessary. In the European Union, all car hire companies are required to include basic cover in the rental cost and, regardless of the scare stories at the counter, you are not obliged to sign up to any extra cover. What you do need to be aware of, however, are excess fees that apply to most basic insurance cover. These can be substantial. Car hire companies will try to sell you policies – super collision damage waiver – that cover these off but, without exception, you are better off buying a policy from a third party before you travel. These policies are available from specialist insurers online at very competitive rates whereas, for the car hire company, they are a way to pad margins. And they tend to be more comprehensive than the ones offered by car hire firms who might also try to offer you separate cover for things like windscreen and tyre damage. During the booking process, the level of cover (and any excess) will become clear so there is no reason to wait until you get to your destination to organise a policy covering any excess. You may still have to meet the excess cost from the car hire company but you can claim it back on your excess policy. Just be aware that even with an excess policy – and almost certainly with one from a third party – the car hire company will place a block for the excess on your credit card. And, almost always, they will want to put it on the card used to book the car with. This amount can be substantial so make sure your card limit is sufficient or that someone in the party has another card . Damage Don't assume that the company will overlook minor dints and scratches. Just because they have not fixed such items before giving you the car does not mean they will not try to charge you for damage already there when you return the vehicle. Practice varies widely from company to company and even from one car hire location to another even with the same company. But don't assume what happened last time you hired a car will be the same this time. In fairness, it is not necessarily sharp practice. At busy times of the holiday season, staff are coping with so many cars coming and going that they may simply miss something, only noticing it later when you subsequently return with the vehicle. Having said that, customer feedback online suggests some car hire companies in holiday locations now see charges for minor damage as a significant revenue earner. The rates that some companies charge for even the smallest scratch are far above anything it will cost to put right. The contract you get will normally have a diagram where the car hire company notes any existing issues but you need to take the time to check this carefully before driving away. Is there anything else that is not already noted? If so, take pictures (and/or video) and bring it to the attention of the car hire agency staff before you drive away, making sure they note it on the contract diagram. And don't assume that it is only external damage you'll be held account for. Companies can also charge for scuffs and tears to the interior. When you return the car, make sure the company is satisfied with its condition before walking away. And if you are leaving the vehicle in an unattended lot after hours, make sure you video the vehicle to confirm its state when you returned it. Extras You would have thought that the satnav rip-off would be at an end, given that most cars will now pick up Google Maps or Waze, but every time I pick up a car, I see someone agreeing to take one. Hopefully you're not that person. Even if you're concerned about roaming charges or a data package that won't work abroad, you can download the maps you need so that they can be accessed offline. The rules on child seats and who needs to use one vary widely from country to country and it is important to check these before you travel. No one will fancy lugging a car seat with them from home but the cost of hiring them at your destination could prove very expensive and many airlines are very accommodating on child seats. Most, but not all, car hire firms will also charge for an additional driver or drivers so make sure more than one of you is going to need to drive before you add other names to the contract. Driving in a foreign country is not on most people's favourite lists of things to do and a second driver may not be doing much driving anyway. Fuel It seems like fuel policy should be straightforward but apparently it's not. In general, you will pick up a car with a full fuel tank and commit to returning it full. With Google Maps, the game of 'find the station nearest the airport' isn't what it was. All airports in my experience have a station within a kilometre or so of the car hire drop off, so there's no excuse for failing to have the car full on return. One thing you can be certain of is that the per litre charge imposed by the car hire agency for any top-up necessary will far exceed what you would have paid for the five minute inconvenience of finding a petrol station. Some car hire companies offer alternatives, neither of which sound like a good idea. They can ask you to pay upfront (at their rates) for a full fuel tank with the option of returning it empty. Given everyone's natural aversion to being stranded without fuel, this is inevitably a win-win for the car hire group as punters will always return cars with some fuel. Worse, though I have never come across it personally, is the practice of asking the customer to return the car with the same level of fuel as is in the tank on pick-up. Given how inexact a science fuel gauges are, the customer faces the unenviable choice between erring on the side of caution and overfilling the vehicle or being charged by the company for an alleged underfill. The company's policy should be stated online when you book. If the option is there I would expect a car to have a full tank with the understanding that I need to return it full. Anything else leaves you at the mercy of an unknowable cost. Additional charges Car hire companies, like most airlines these days, have a habit of charging individually for everything. And that can dramatically increase what you understood to be the headline per day cost of your holiday car. These charges can include out-of-hours fees if you turn up outside the desk's office hours – even if that is simply because your flight is delayed. You can also find that the car you booked was given away because you hadn't turned up, leaving you to hire a different and likely more expensive model, if one is available at all. Most companies will ask for your flight number and it is a good idea to let them have that information as it should make them aware of any delays. Some tips There are other ways you can reduce the cost of car hire. If you can put up with travelling from the airport to your first location by public transport (or taxi), you might find it cheaper to rent the same vehicle from an office of the same car hire firm away from the airport. Even then, booking online can be useful. I once arrived into an office Portugal looking to hire a car for the following day – having done an initial recce online. The rate they were looking to charge was a multiple of what I had seen online. I stepped out of the office, took out my phone, booked online at the cheaper rate and returned to the same agent the following morning to pick up the vehicle. No problem. And consider whether you really do need the car for the full week, or two? If you're focusing on a beach or a city location for a chunk of your visit, the car will likely just be parked up (and costing you for that too). Also, not all websites are created equal. It can be useful to use the local website of a car hire company in the country you intend visiting rather than the .ie version. But do make sure the terms and conditions are the same and that you allow for the impact of local currency exchange if outside the euro zone. Consumer group Which? found in its 2025 travel car hire survey that someone booking a hire care in Las Vegas would pay £220 (€255) more for the same car with the same insurance cover by hiring from a UK website rather than through a US website. Which? also advises that it is always better to choose the 'pay now' option rather than paying later when you pick up the car. It locks in the price and removes any scope for local agents claiming rates have changed from what you had expected in the meantime. The bottom line is that a cheap advertised rate is only half the story. Make sure you are comparing like with like and that you have accounted for all additional charges before you hand over your card details and confirm your booking. There's no way of guaranteeing a hassle-free pick-up of a hired car but you can certainly reduce the capacity for surprise and stress by taking the time to do your homework and by knowing your rights. One final tip: when you do get back home, check your credit card bill and make sure what you've been charged for the car is what was agreed. It is not unheard of for people to find discrepancies. If you've been charged more than you expected, chase the company to find out why and to get your money back. You can contact us at OnTheMoney@ with personal finance questions you would like to see us address. If you missed last week's newsletter, you can read it here .
Irish Times
22-07-2025
- Irish Times
Ryanair's changed policy on minors leave children's travel plans up in the air
This time last year a 14-year-old travelling with a sibling or friend over the age of 16 – maybe as part of a language exchange programme – was welcomed on board Ryanair flights without any difficulties. This year, however, they might find themselves being escorted off the plane as a result of a change in the company's policies that may have gone undetected by many families who are hoping to send their little ones away in the weeks ahead. It certainly went undetected by two readers who contacted this page within days of each other earlier this month. 'I wonder if you could advise on a consumer issue,' begins the mail from Andrea. READ MORE 'Prior to June of this year, a passenger aged under 16 was permitted to travel with another passenger aged 16 or older with Ryanair. It appears this policy changed in or around June this year and now under 16s must be accompanied by someone aged over 18,' she says. Before we continue and out of fear of enraging Ryanair early on, we should point out that Andrea is incorrect to say this change happened 'in or around June this year', and we will elaborate on that presently. For now, back to Andrea's story. 'This past Saturday, we were due to receive three students from Valencia, flying together on Ryanair, two aged 17 and one aged 15. But when they went to check in, they were advised that the 15-year-old was not allowed to travel, even though at the time of booking the tickets, Ryanair's policy would have allowed this. How is this allowed to happen? Surely Ryanair should have been obligated to inform affected passengers of this policy change in advance of their travel dates and offer refunds? It seems outrageous that they were not informed of the policy change,' she says. She points out that the 15-year-old's parents were 'forced to purchase an Aer Lingus flight from Alicante so that she could get to Dublin to start her course. Do they have grounds for any recourse from Ryanair here? It must be some kind of breach of contract. Or would it be a case of trying to claim on their travel insurance? It is very difficult to find information on the policy change on Ryanair's website- all that seems to be available now is their new policy, so it is very difficult to find out even when the policy changed.' At around the same time we also heard from Michele. 'I am mum of four children ranging from 18 to seven,' she begins. 'For the past three years I have sent my older children to a group in Spain called Pueblo Ingles. They fly to Madrid get picked up and stay overnight, then bus it out to Salamanca to teach English to Spanish children. It's volunteer-based. She says that the first year she sent her 16-year-old son and her 14-year-old daughter and two friends aged 15 and 13 and they all flew without issue. The second year she sent her son – who was then 17 – with her daughter and her daughter's friend, both of whom were under 16 at the time of the flight. 'This year I sent my daughter who is now 17 and her sister who is 13. It was to be the older girl's last year and the younger girl's first,' she explains. 'I used my Ryanair app when I booked the flights and nothing was said regarding age. I booked their 20kg baggage, I booked the seat allocation there and back. I checked them in online, nothing was ever said about the age of the travellers,' she writes. She left her home in Waterford at 8pm on a Wednesday night, stayed with family close to the airport, woke at 5am and drove to Dublin Airport, terminal 1, parked the car and checked and tagged the bag. 'I walked the girls to security, said goodbye and left and drove back towards Waterford. My 17-year-old daughter called me at 7.30am. Ryanair wouldn't let her board with the 13-year-old. In fact, they said she could board but leave the 13-year-old there to call her mother,' Michele writes. 'They did this in front of the other passengers. They shamed and embarrassed my children as if they had done wrong. They didn't offer them assistance or walk them down to get their bags, they just said 'I've unboarded you now and your bag has been removed from the plane'. My children had to walk down crying and ask an airport worker where their bag might be,' she says. 'I went back to Dublin Airport through M50 toll back to the car park to collect two traumatised girls. I was given an email to complain to but it bounced back saying it didn't exist. Then I called their complaints number and spoke to a human that was close to a robot. He just kept repeating their policies and said I wouldn't get any refund because it was my own fault, I could have linked the girls flight to another adult on the plane, that adult being a mystery stranger I hadn't met yet. I always fly Ryanair and have never complained about them because cheap is cheap, you know what you're getting when you book with them. But the fact that I had done this two years previous with no problem and the fact that they humiliated my kids so publicly, I'm angry.' We got in touch with Ryanair and will publish the response that came from its PR department in full. 'There hasn't been a 'recent' policy change ('June this year') as you wrongly claim,' it begins. Pricewatch made no such claim, we were quoting our reader and seeking information, but that is by the by. 'We changed our 'minors' travel policy in September last year. Prior to that change we allowed under 16's to travel with an over 16 'adult'. However, in a number of EU countries (notably Spain, Poland, Greece and Germany) we were notified that this is not allowed, as they require an U16 'minor' to be accompanied by an 'adult', who must be over 18, not over 16. They do not accept over 16's as an adult, whereas Ryanair does. 'To avoid any confusion, and the risk of such minors being detained by immigration in these countries, we changed our policy to bring it into line with the requirements of these countries, that an U16 minor must – since Sept 2024 – be accompanied by an adult over 18 years of age.' The statement points out that the first booking we highlighted was made in March 2025 'over six months after this policy change' while the second booking 'was made in May 2025, more than eight months after this policy change. This 'minor' travel policy was clearly set out on our website at the time of both of these bookings.' 'We will not take any risks when it comes to accompanied minors travelling with adults, and we must ensure that we comply with the most stringent standards governing travel for minors, to ensure we avoid such minors getting stuck, or worse still, denied entry at immigration points at EU airports.' So, there you have it. There has been a policy change – albeit in September 2024 and not June 2025. We can't possibly quibble with the reasoning Ryanair has outlined for the changes, although readers might question how it has been advertised and managed. Unlike Ryanair, we understand that not everyone who makes a booking or pays for a service reads the terms and conditions in detail before clicking the buy now button. And we understand that people are even less likely to read those terms and conditions in detail if they are using a service or booking flights in a fashion similar to how they have done it in the fairly recent past. For our part we shall treat this as a public service announcement and one anyone planning to book a flight for a 16- or 17-year-old and someone under that age will do well to heed.
Irish Times
10-07-2025
- Irish Times
Student wasters
Sir, – I couldn't agree more with letter writer Eamonn Dillon (Letters, July 8th) when he asks: 'How many university students paid more than €1,000 on holidays in Spain or Greece this year?' I know of students who possess phones, use public transport, demand to sleep in a bed at night and waste €8,000 to €12,000 a year on student accommodation, work nights, weekends and during their holidays to earn the minimum wage (and possibly pay tax), socialise occasionally – and yes, even eat food and buy clothes – and otherwise carelessly waste money they could save for a university education. God help us. What will we ever do with the spendthrift youth of today? – Yours, etc, TOMÁS FINN, READ MORE Co Galway.
