Travel & Customs

Updated May 26, 2025

Here are some tips on how to travel and cross customs securely.

Company Security at Border Crossings

When you cross a border, you may be asked to unlock your phone or laptop for search, possibly exposing sensitive company data like source code, passwords, and customer account data. Yikes! We need to take some precautionary measures to safeguard our data.

What’s a work device? Anything you have company data on: your laptop where you work with which has MobilityData source code; your tablet where you read MobilityData email; your phone where you store MobilityData's data; etc.

General principles

1. If you do not need your equipment (computer, tablet, phone), you should leave them at home or at the office.
2. If you have to bring them, you need to log out of all apps or cloud/SaaS websites on all of your equipment (computer, tablet, phone) before crossing the border. You can log back in afterward.
3. You can log in to your password manager online account and turn on the Travel mode, then open 1Password on each device to let it wipe data off them. Once you arrive at your destination you can log back in and turn it off.
4. We recommend to setup the use of a VPN when working in public spaces internationnally. You can request the help of the IT manager to set it up and understand it.

Checklist: Before You Travel

1Password

1. Turn on Travel Mode.
   • Go to profile and click Enable Travel Mode.
2. Open 1Password on each device you’re traveling with (laptop, phone, iPad, etc) so it can wipe its data while it’s in Travel Mode.

Google account

Log out of your Google account on every device you’re traveling with.

Clear browser cookies

... effectively logging you out of all services and websites. Here's how to do it on most platforms:

• macOS:
  • Chrome
  • Firefox
  • Safari
  • Arc
  • Brave
• iOS: Settings > Safari > Clear History and Website Data
• Android:
  1. Go to Chrome > Settings > Privacy > Clear browsing data;
  2. check Cookies and site data;
  3. uncheck all the other items;
  4. then tap Clear data.

MobilityData source code & sensitive documents

Make a backup on Google Drive (inside My Drive) of your MobilityData git repos so you can download and restore them after you’re through customs.

Delete all MobilityData source code and sensitive data from your computer, empty the trash.

Touch ID & Face ID (optional)

Unlocking your device can be compelled at US border crossings, but other countries may be less intrusive, so it may make sense to make your device a little harder to unlock.

Disable Touch ID on your phone, tablet, and laptop. Require a passcode/password to unlock.

Checklist: When You Arrive

Let us know when you’ve arrived at your destination and have cleared airport security.

• Touch ID: Reenable on your devices.
• Google account: log back in on your devices, preferably only those you will use during your stay.
• 1Password: Turn off Travel Mode. Go to profile and click Disable Travel Mode. Next time you open 1Password, you’ll have full access again.
• Source code/sensitive data: Download and restore the backup from your Google Drive, but only if needed during travel.

VPN

Make sure you use a VPN like Proton when in a public space during travels.

Checklist: When You Return

Same as when you travel! Repeat the checklists for any border crossing, whether in or out of your country of residence.