[rurban]

> It's not /only/ the US that's doing this sort of thing, it's just that the US is now doing it too.

No. Not even China or North Korea is doing this.

Most countries do hold high some principles like constitutional values or civilian rights. Only the US does not.

> I am fortunate to be traveling on a US passport...

Why is this fortunate? You are labelled part of a dark society with no constitutional protections for civilians, military order and generally an outlaw who likes to bully all others. This is not fortunate, esp. if you want to establish trade relationships with people from civilized countries.

[tristor]

Clearly you're trolling, but in the interest of anyone else who might stumble upon this. The US is not even remotely the only country which asks for or requires information at the border they have no business asking for.

* Canada routinely asks for phone unlocks or laptop passwords at the border and has tried and prosecuted one of their own citizens for refusing to give up the information. [1]

* As the currently top-rated poster in this article thread points out, the Thai government asks for social media information at the border. [2]

* It's common in many countries now to ask for access to laptops or phones. This includes Australia, Canada, and the UK as well as the United States obviously.

* The UK has detained reporters [4] and seizes laptops from reporters [5] simply because they were encrypted and refused to turn over passwords. They've prosecuted and jailed 3 people for refusing adamantly to turn over their passwords, including a diagnosed paranoid schizophrenic who was a UK citizen. [6]

* Australian Customs requires you to declare pornography at the border, and if you don't or any pornography is discovered which violates the draconian obscenity laws there you can be detained and deported, or criminally charged. [7]

These are all "Western" nations I'm picking on here, but my point is that this isn't some special feature of the "evil US imperialist pigs" as you seem to think. This is a widespread and growing issue all over the world, including in places which most people would consider traditionally to be bastions of human rights. This doesn't even begin to discuss China, or as you mentioned North Korea, or my own experiences traveling in the Middle East and North Africa.

I'm very proud to be American, because I live in a society where despite how far we've fallen, the basic philosophy our country is founded on is one which respects and defends human rights including the right to privacy. It may require a lot of time or something disastrous happening in order to return things to a semblance of reason, but I have a lot more hope for the future of the United States than I do for nations with long histories of being violently oppressive.

Please spread your Pro-NK/China propaganda elsewhere.

[1] http://www.cbc.ca/news/alain-philippon-phone-password-case-p...

[2] http://www.khaosodenglish.com/wp-content/uploads/pre/1460977...

[3] http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/smartphone-laptop-searches-know...

[4] http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-23782782

[5] https://sputniknews.com/voiceofrussia/2013_02_25/Outrageous-...

[6] http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/11/24/ripa_jfl/

[7] http://www.gizmodo.com.au/2010/05/australian-customs-officia...

[sdm]

Sigh, please spread your anti-China propaganda elsewhere. The reality is that going through immigration in China is no where near as draconian or intrusive as in the US and most other Western countries. You don't have people inquisiting you or going through your stuff. It's a quick and efficient and painless process. I do it about every 2 months. I do wish people with no real experience outside of their country stop listing to the massive and unjustified anti-Chinese propaganda the US spews. The reality on the ground couldn't be more different. You have much more to fear for a privacy standpoint entering the US than you do entering China.