EU gives staff 'burner phones, laptops' for US visits
- Reference: 1744702571
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2025/04/15/ec_burner_devices/
- Source link:
The use of clean and locked-down hardware is common practice for anyone visiting China, Russia, and other states where aggressive electronic surveillance is expected. Apparently the European Union has added the United States to that list.
"The transatlantic alliance is over," an EU official [1]told the newspaper, which reported the commission "is issuing burner phones and basic laptops to some US-bound staff to avoid the risk of espionage — a measure traditionally reserved for trips to China."
[2]
Next week, officials from the EU are due in Washington DC for the spring meetings of the World Bank Group and the International Monetary Fund. Four sources told the FT the EC had changed its guidance to ensure that visitors to America take serious precautions against cyber-espionage.
[3]
[4]
"They are worried about the US getting into the commission systems," said one.
The relationship between the US and Europe has chilled severely in the past few months since President Trump threatened to invade Greenland, slapped tariffs on Euro imports, backed a Sieg-Heil'ing Elon Musk, sent Vice President JD Vance to lecture the continent on free speech, humiliated Ukraine's president, and made other smart foreign policy moves.
[5]
Germany, Denmark, Finland, the Netherlands, and Ireland have all altered their travel advice for citizens visiting the Land of the Free, mainly urging travelers to follow all requirements as strictly as possible or consider simply not going, after a bunch of visitors from the EU and UK were detained for visa and immigration infractions. Trans-gendered travelers are advised that they may be barred from entry.
France’s minister of higher education and research, Philippe Baptiste, lodged an official complaint last month after one French boffin was [6]reportedly barred from entering the country for a conference after a border patrol examination of their phone found what was said to be extreme anti-Trump comments, although the US says it was because [7]officers found confidential American information in the scientist's possession.
Taking a burner device, to be honest, sounds like standard practice for people in sensitive lines of work, though this is all being interpreted as an indication of quite how badly relations have slipped between Europe and the US. And while a certain amount of spying on one's allies is [8]expected – former German chancellor Angela Merkel was [9]most peeved when it turns out her phone was being bugged by the NSA – a recommendation to take fresh devices is something new.
[10]John Kerry bombshell: 'Yes, the NSA... reached TOO FAR, inappropriately'
[11]Germany tells America to verpissen off over Huawei 5G cyber-Sicherheitsbedenken
[12]Angela Merkel's phone was being listened in on by FIVE foreign powers
[13]This is how we know Echelon exists
Ultimately, spies spy, and when it comes to spying on the world, no one doubts America's abilities, regardless of who is in charge.
"Washington is not Beijing or Moscow, but it is an adversary that is prone to use extra-legal methods to further its interests and power," Luuk van Middelaar, director of the Brussels Institute for Geopolitics think tank, told the FT.
[14]
"Democrat administrations use the same tactics. It is an acceptance of reality by the Commission."
A European Commission spokesperson, an in email to The Register , did not deny equipment was being handed out to staff as reported. And while the spinner claimed the commission had not issued official guidance to use burner laptops and phones, they did admit it had tweaked its recommendations.
"We have recently updated several country specific traveling recommendation factsheets for officials. They reflect the latest changes in the way the commission communicates and the general increase of threats globally regarding cybersecurity," the spokesperson told us.
"Finally, indeed we recommend linking the e-visa to an EU laissez-passer for senior officials, in order to underline the official nature of the visit and facilitate visa processes in embassies prior to departure. Again, these updated recommendations were included in many other countries' factsheets to the attention of travelling senior officials."
We understand the FT stands by its yarn. And it wouldn't be the first time the EU had [15]denied a story, only to later confirm its veracity. ®
PS: Facebook giant Meta [16]intends to train its AI on public posts and other data in Europe after last year [17]pausing the practice. "People based in the EU who use our platforms can choose to object to their public data being used for training purposes," the tech giant noted.
Get our [18]Tech Resources
[1] https://www.ft.com/content/20d0678a-41b2-468d-ac10-14ce1eae357b
[2] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_security/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2Z_4uKZ7sa6JUvdGChK3FtAAAAEc&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[3] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_security/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44Z_4uKZ7sa6JUvdGChK3FtAAAAEc&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[4] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_security/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33Z_4uKZ7sa6JUvdGChK3FtAAAAEc&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[5] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_security/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44Z_4uKZ7sa6JUvdGChK3FtAAAAEc&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[6] https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/mar/19/trump-musk-french-scientist-detained
[7] https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/21/world/europe/us-france-scientist-entry-trump.html
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2001/09/14/this_is_how_we_know/
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2013/11/26/merkel_phone_tapped_by_5_countries/
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2013/11/01/john_kerry_nsa_spying/
[11] https://www.theregister.com/2019/02/19/germany_huawei_5g_security/
[12] https://www.theregister.com/2013/11/26/merkel_phone_tapped_by_5_countries/
[13] https://www.theregister.com/2001/09/14/this_is_how_we_know/
[14] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_security/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33Z_4uKZ7sa6JUvdGChK3FtAAAAEc&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[15] https://x.com/paolatamma/status/1907067942660870231
[16] https://about.fb.com/news/2025/04/making-ai-work-harder-for-europeans/
[17] https://www.theregister.com/2024/06/14/meta_eu_privacy/
[18] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Re: Good practice
It always amuses me hearing some of the far-right (and not just in America) saying they don't want immigrants when they were probably immigrants not too long ago.
Re: Good practice
"immigrants"
After they killed most of the natives.
Re: Good practice
They’re conquerors or crusaders in which case, not immigrants.
Re: Good practice
The wording on the ESTA application still indicates that you do not have to supply that information
Re: Good practice
How far do you think you're going to get when the border troopers demand it? What is written and what happens are two entirely different things - just ask those who wete/are unlawfully detained "because"...
Re: Good practice
"The wording on the ESTA application still indicates that you do not have to supply that information"
And they don't need to let you into the country.
Basically if they decide that need to see your device you either let them or get back on the plane.
"Washington is not Beijing or Moscow," no they are worse, they are supposed to be friends and allies. Trump and his band of goons have destroyed decades of co-operation and trust, that will take many years once he is a shameful footnote in American history to repair, if at all. Many see his fascism as the wakeup call Europe needed to finally stand on it's own without the Bullly Boy USA pulling strings for it's own benefit.
America is not a safe place to be right now.
The orange one's latest idea is to deport citizens who have committed certain criminal acts. No one is safe in America - not even Americans.
Seems unnecessarily expensive to fly a [1]Skyvan all the way to El Salvador, when they could just go past the 12 mile limit and be outside US jurisdiction.
[1] https://www.batimes.com.ar/news/argentina/aircraft-used-in-1977-death-flight-returns-to-argentina.phtml
It's pretty rich considering he is a convicted multiple felon and ajudicated rapist. He better hope he can stay in office until he dies or the plan is rejected cause he might be on a plane at some point.
The second thing the next president will do is rescind this.
The first is to load up a couple of planes...
You don't have to have committed any criminal acts, just having some tattoos that resemble those of Venezuelan gang members can get you renditioned to an El Salvador maximum security prison with no due process. And even if they make a mistake and realise they souldn't have sent you there neither Trump or Bukele are willing to back down and return them to the US https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c9vedkm7w2do
And Trump has even said if he can get around the law then he is willing to send American citizens to the El Salvador jail. So while the Orangutan is in charge I wouldn't be visiting the US if I was gifted an all expenses paid trip and if I was an American Id be looking to move to Canada for the next 4 years.
"and made other smart foreign policy moves."
I think it's more a case of "they're foreign, they don't need a policy".
Good drills for security
It's a shame that a country once seen as an ally, has descended to this level of distrust between it and it's allies and in the reverse, its allies no longer have trust in them.
Many moons ago, when young and able bodied, I travelled to all sorts of places to consult, you always knew you were liable to tapping and intercept in certain countries, it just became part of the SOPs to limit confidential conversations, topics and data to your home base.
If you're on the move and mobile, expect your cellular and internet traffic to be monitored and recorded by someone.
Expect no privacy and you'll not be disappointed!
Honestly, just don't go
If America wants to be isolationist, let them be isolated. They don't want us, we don't want them.
That includes IMF meetings or any other conferences. Let American delegates sit alone in otherwise empty conference halls. That will give them plenty of opportunity to discuss how badly they fucked up.
At this point, they are no better than the Norks. In fact they're worse, in terms of the threat level.
Desktop Linux ?
Could this be what does what 20 years of shot Windows releases hasn't, and actually create an appetite for Desktop Linux that 20 years of shit Windows releases hasn't ?
Me ?
I'd load up the 4 laptops I have to carry and 5 phones with as much realistic looking "data" as possible and force them to confiscate them.
Let them knock themselves out drowning in 30 year exchanges about the menu in the canteen and supplier invoices. After all, they like data, don't they ? Be rude not to supply as much as we can.
Re: Me ?
I would recommend against this. The DHS can muck you about far harder and longer than you can muck them about.
I'm suprised this is only coming in now. This has been corporate policy in every firm I've worked in for at least 10 years (maybe 15).
Maybe EU officials felt they would be exempted from that bollocks law which states that Homeland Security can take and copy any phone or laptop that enters the USA, which has been in effect for I dont know how long, and maybe they are now thinking they wont be exempt any longer. But this should have been standard policy for a long time now...
Corporate policy for the past 25 years across 4 companies for me.
Burner phones and laptops
Good grief - the EU doesn't get it at all. What tech are they using - can't be Microsoft (US company), Google Play (US company) or Apple (US company).
Are they running their own locked down Linux and using TOR?
Giving staff Nokia old style non-touchscreen phones might work but then you just look like a drug dealer and get stopped anyway...
Hope you have a good backup process!! Then..........
LAPTOP
=======
Copy useful files to a UK-based server (like burner contacts)
Delete everything from cloud-based email
Delete LinkedIn, Facebook, VPN accounts
DBAN
Clean install of Fedora41/XFCE
....good to go......
BURNER
=======
Delete all contacts (memory and SIM)
Delete all "apps"
Install NEW burner SIM
....good to go......
....of course, there may still some residual data for snoops to review.......but so little that they can get through everything in a few minutes...........
....and of course that IN ITSELF is grounds for suspicion!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Re: Hope you have a good backup process!! Then..........
....just don't take either a phone or a laptop with you..........
....head out to your NY store of choice (WalMart?) and buy new stuff inside the USA:
- a laptop
- a cell phone
- a T-Mobile SIM
.....a thousand dollars on expenses and a couple of hours aggravation doing a restore from your UK backup....and you are all set!!
Good practice
A few years ago, the US introduced a law that could require visitors to provide access to their social media accounts upon entry. Ever since it has been unadvisable to carry your normal phone with you upon entry. This isn't Trump-specific: America, a country of immigrants, has long been suspicious of immigrants going back at least to WWI.