I'm more surprised at the 38% true positive rate. If you consider false positives, it would mean that they are shockingly good at profiling and most criminals are dumb enough to leave obvious evidence on their phone, or an overwhelming majority of people have committed a "customs-related offence" so that you could pick anyone and they would be guilty.
I would think most offenses are for improper entry, visa, etc. If you were entering to work on a tourism visa I think it would be very easy to find proof in a simple email, text or document.
The issue here is that if most people aren't intending on staying illegally, you need to be really accurate, otherwise all the false positives are going to drown out your true positives.
I mean what counts as work and where it occurs are becoming very difficult to manage? What happens if you have to do work while on a real holiday, should you be deported for this? Is it valid to allow these searches for these sort of offences, it seems like at some point everyone will be guilty of doing these things.
I wonder this myself. There is a difference between traveling for the purposes of work, and working while traveling. I have a 100% remote position. I normally do my work in the US. I've considered flying to Europe for a few weeks, where due to time zone differences I could do touristy stuff during the day and then work my US 9-5 shift in the EU evening. This would allow me to travel but to not take vacation time. Would this require a work visa?
Generally speaking, there isn't a difference between traveling for the purpose of work and working while traveling for other reasons. If you are physically in one country while performing work it is considered working in that country and requires appropriate permission. Many countries do have a business visitor category that allows for some form of work (attending meetings, and the like, things that wouldn't be stealing the job of a resident).
I actually learned this the hard way, I was in your shoes, 100% remote job, for a US company, US clients, and went to Europe and thought I might work while traveling. I was detained at the border, interviewed, and very nearly denied entry. I was let after a couple fairly lengthy interviews (I was detained for about 16hours) and proving I had funds to support myself without working. I was given a "visitor record" and a firm exit by date, not sure what all the record entails but I get questioned every time I enter now.
Anyway, point being, legally speaking what generally matters is where you are located when performing the work, and that's really the only way that makes sense to judge where the work takes place.
With all that said, in reality being caught is extremely unlikely and plenty of people get away with it and I don't think there are many countries actively trying to crack down on that sort of short term work while being a tourist. If you want to be above the board though, unless your work counts as what a business visitor can do, you would need a visa to perform any work. There is generally no distinction between traveling for the purpose of working, and working while traveling for other reasons.
I'm not a lawyer though but I've spent a fair bit of time actually looking at the restrictions on the tourism and business visitor visas to stay legal while traveling long-term and working remotely.
I’m not a lawyer, but tend to travel a lot and had lots of conversations with border agents as a result :) My impression is that it’s primarily a question of payment - if you travel to say Belgium to get paid by a Belgian company, then it’s work. If you’re there and your work is not really related to Belgium in any way, you are on a salary paid by a US company, then your purpose isn’t really work. The shades of gray start when your employer is being paid by the local company for your work. Many countries will allow you to attend meetings for a week or two, run demos, provide some on-site support, but staying for six months and working on site likely require a business visa.
FWIW, I did this for 2.5 years while dating my now wife. As long as i had proof that I would only be in the country for less then 90 days and always told them I was working for an American company and that my American company was consulting for American clients, they were ok with it. Traveling with a recent bank statement also helped to show i had enough funds to cover my stay even if I was on "vacation"
I basically had my mornings free every day until I ate lunch then i would sit down and start work for the day.
it would mean that they are shockingly good at profiling and most criminals are dumb enough to leave obvious evidence on their phone
Your use of the word obvious is not well supported by your argument. Do you have an unstated premise that Border Services only detect "obvious" offenses?
