Like before we surrendered ourselves to "gadgets": simply by not bringing anything that could be a liability.
Random and targeted checks have always existed at borders. They would go through your stuff and move on to the next target if they didn't find anything suspicious. If you had folders, envelopes, etc. in your trunk or luggage, then they would go through them as well so, if you didn't want them to go through your most sensitive stuff, then you didn't bring that stuff with you. It's as simple as that.
But "privacy minded" people had it easy, back then, because they didn't travel with 20 years of correspondance or porn search history in their luggage.
Just leave your gadgets at home if you are worried about what could be found on them.
- If you really need to bring _your_ laptop, then image it anew before leaving.
- If it is a work laptop, then let your employer's IT department deal with the issue. You don't have personal stuff on it, do you?
- If you only need _a_ laptop, then buy the cheapest you can find upon arrival.
- Get a cheap SIM card and a disposable phone upon your arrival.
Convoluted and unreasonable workarounds for a growing police state.
Please don't try to minimize the egregiousness of having your personal documents searched for the sake of security theater.
> Convoluted and unreasonable workarounds for a growing police state.
Well, those are _basic_ OPSEC for people whose life/safety/freedom would actually be threatened by a search ("good guys", "bad guys", it doesn't matter). If the only things threatened by a search are your pride/moral principles, then yeah, those might seem unreasonable.
> Please don't try to minimize the egregiousness of having your personal documents searched for the sake of security theater.
I don't know if that term has been coined before, but "privacy theater" is also a thing, and it is just as grotesque as the other theater.
I don't see anything convoluted it unreasonable in the suggestions the OP made. They're based on reality, irrespective of whether you like it or not.