[tamimio]

> on looking at my cell, if before leaving home I removed all my pictures and contacts, erased my internet history and removed all files?

They take a whole dump for future forensic if needed, and that includes the ability to restore what you have deleted.

[j5155]

Surely this is not possible (assuming the recently deleted folder is cleared)? I know it could be done with insecurely erased hard drives but I dont think any phones are using those?

[tamimio]

It is indeed possible, recovering a fully deleted file or even chats logs is the easiest part, given it’s unlocked. I don’t know about Australia, but plenty of law enforcements use cellebrite (1), and there are other tools too that provide such forensic analysis.

(1) https://cellebrite.com/en/home/

[DEADMINCE]

If you wipe the phone completely and re-image it, they can't recover a thing.

[bloomingeek]

Hypothetical 2: leave your cell at home and just carry your sim card. After leaving airport, purchase a usable phone and insert sim card. Remove card and ditch phone when leaving country. Would they detain and harass this person?