[hollander]

Still you aren't telling the truth when you say that you filled the harddisk with random data. Without headers the data is random, but you have a backup. Where do you keep that? Is it somewhere in the cloud where you can download it to restore it when in the US? If they really don't trust it, and keep you for several days (I don't know if this is possible without other offenses), at what point will you break and tell just to get away? How strong are you when you're there all alone and haven't really done anything?

Why not whipe the disk and enter with a clean system if it's so critical?

[drvdevd]

I agree - basically. The scheme is designed to be a half truth essentially. One that you can mentally convince yourself of in a tight situation, which would relieve you somewhat of the need to be "tough", psychologically speaking. At least for a while, anyway.

wrt giving up the key under extended duress, I was thinking the same thing and aside from simply wiping the disk I can think of another scheme that might serve you well: give the header to a trusted 3rd party who could simply be the one actually controlling access to your data. Your lawyer for example.

[hollander]

If you give it to your lawyer, it's still half truth, and still you can break and call him to mail the headers to you. If this is so important, setup a server that you control with your data encrypted on it, and enter the US with a clean Ubuntu system, or even a Chromebook with a fresh account.