So I’ve just been thinking about privacy, and how everyone’s location can be tracked. Then I realized: What about people who have no permission to enter the country?
Like do they just decide to not have a phone, or do they still have phones and just roll the dice and hope they don’t get caught?
Uhhh what gives you this idea?
You don’t talk to US customs on your way out via land borders.
If you fly out, there would be a flight record, but most of the other methods don’t get recorded. If you go to Canada, the canadian immigration shares that data with the US, assuming you use the same passport (some people have more than one)
If you go to Mexico though, there’s no record and the Mexican government doesn’t share that info with the US. https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/R/R47541 Page 14
Ah interesting, I knew it was recorded in Canada and shared, hadn’t realized it wasn’t in Mexico. Other than that, very familiar with the process overall, but my experience has been with flights mostly.
It depends. Physical borders may only photograph traffic for security purposes, no dedicated exit gate. Usually its the entry country that records your crossing, which they may or may not share with the other country.
I’m pretty sure TSA does record people exiting internationally though because people have been caught leaving after an arrest warrant has been issued, even if they made it past TSA onto the flight and into the air. TSA will know immediately if you checked in or boarded your flight.