[ndsipa_pomu]

UK citizen here and I've never had any issue with flying in/out of UK with several electronic devices (phone, laptop, tablet, steamdeck etc). Never even been asked to power them on or demonstrate them working (i.e. to show that they're not a bomb disguised as a laptop) and don't know anyone else that's had any hassle getting back in the country. I've been selected for being swabbed for explosives a few times though, but even that only takes a minute and is hardly any inconvenience.

In my experience, Australia was the most difficult country to get into as they are (now) very careful about bringing in any plant seeds or fruit, but the security staff were very friendly and helpful. I had to spend a while explaining that I did have some bananas in my bag previously which was why the cute sniffer dog was interested in it.

[NoImmatureAdHom]

Your personal experience is probably representative in that invasive searches happen to very few people, but that's not the issue at hand. The fact remains that the British will imprison you for refusing to decrypt your stuff (or for refusing to answer their questions):

https://www.libertyhumanrights.org.uk/advice_information/exa...

[mrkstu]

Australia is annoying. Israel is by far the worst- UK is bad in theory since they can jail you to compel an unlock, but obviously is going to happen to a vanishingly small number of people…

[chopin]

Same experience with Australia. Japan is very painless, as well. Friendly, helpful staff on both.