One Way to Hide Your Data from Digital Border Searches

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A popular password manager unveiled a feature to temporarily remove data from devices.

Password manager service 1Password has introduced a new feature designed to protect the privacy of people traveling abroad.

The Trump administration has attempted to introduce new security procedures for people coming into the United States, such as requiring them to hand over their smartphones as well as social media and email account information. 

Many people feel uneasy by potential digital border searches as well as being digitally vulnerable abroad. Password manager 1Password introduced Travel Mode, a feature that lets users temporarily remove sensitive data like passwords, credit cards and other stored data from devices while traveling.

Using the feature requires a bit of legwork before leaving the country. Users must determine which information is safe for travel and which should be temporarily removed. And by necessity, users will lose access to some accounts, which might they might want access to, like email.

There's also a "teams" travel mode feature, for companies looking to protect data on business trips. Each company using 1Password would have control over the travel mode feature on each employee's account.