Your phone before a border crossing or a protest

For anyone entering or leaving Russia or Belarus, or going somewhere they could be detained: a protest, a friend's trial, a police summons.

The 5-minute minimum

• Turn off face and fingerprint unlock and set a long passcode with letters and digits. iPhone: Settings → Face ID & Passcode. Android 16: Settings → Security & privacy → Device unlock.
• Hide message previews on the lock screen. iPhone: Settings → Notifications → Show Previews → Never. Android 16: Settings → Notifications → Notifications on lock screen → turn off sensitive content.
• Switch the phone off before a check or a possible detention: until the passcode is entered after a restart, your data is best protected. No time? iPhone: hold the side button and a volume button for 2 seconds. Pixel: press Power and Volume Up, then tap Lockdown.
• Write your lawyer's and a close person's numbers on paper and agree on a check-in time.

If you are at risk

• Rights groups advise not taking your main phone, laptop or tablet across the border. A separate inexpensive phone with your own SIM and new accounts is safer.
• Prepare it weeks ahead so it looks ordinary. An empty or freshly reset phone may raise questions, but if there was no time to prepare, an empty phone is still better than your main one (Meduza). Don't sign in to your main Telegram, Google or Apple accounts on it.
• Law No. 257-FZ of 23.07.2025 lets border guards 'inspect and examine' belongings, including phones and laptops. Refusing to hand over a device falls under art. 18.7 CAO (a fine of 5,000 to 7,000 roubles or up to 15 days' detention). The law does not allow them to demand unlocking or read your messages, but in practice officers demand it. Decide with a lawyer in advance how to respond.
• At high risk, turn on Lockdown Mode on an iPhone (Settings → Privacy & Security → Lockdown Mode) or Advanced Protection on Android 16 (Settings → Security & privacy → Advanced Protection).

What not to do

• Don't delete everything at the last minute: mass deletion is noticeable and deleted data can be recovered.
• Don't carry other people's phones or SIM cards.
• Don't type your passcode in front of officers unless you have to, and never give passwords to email, cloud or other accounts they have not reached on the device.
• If a case has been opened, a report drawn up or your phone seized, don't delete anything without a lawyer: deletion can be used against you and won't remove what the authorities have already copied.

What traces remain

• While your phone is on, the operator knows which cell towers it was near.
• Deleted data can often be recovered from the phone and from cloud backups.
• Bank transfers, Telegram Stars and messages on the other person's phone remain.

current as of 26 September 2026. More: OVD-Info: crossing the Russian border (updated 23.09.2026) (foreign agent, extremist, on Rosfinmonitoring list); First Line: preparing your devices for the border (updated 03.05.2026); Meduza: border officers can copy your whole phone, what helps (28.08.2026, Russian) (undesirable); Meduza: preparing your phone for the Russian border (29.08.2026) (undesirable); Teplitsa of Social Technologies: crossing the Russian border with a smartphone (07.11.2025) (foreign agent); First Department: assessing the risks before returning to Russia (21.05.2025) (foreign agent); EFF Surveillance Self-Defense: attending a protest (Russian); Citizen Lab: Russia breaks into a human rights activist's phone with Cellebrite (25.06.2026); First Line: I need to travel to Russia (updated 20.06.2026)