How to buy a Burner Phone AKA US immigration return

I must have missed something. Is there a reason one needs to be wary about an iphone when traveling out of the country?

I’ve seen one story where a man had his phone checked when he came back into the US. They took it from him and hooked it up to something to check it. So now there is concern about phone privacy. And he was an American citizen.

I have heard a number of reports of citizens having their phones searched and/or plugged into devices that they believe may install spyware. I have two international trips in the next few months and have considered a burner phone. I have global entry, which should bypass most issues, and if not, I have turned off biometric phone features so that it can only be unlocked with a passcode that I will not give.

That said, I have made the affirmative decision that as a long-married middle-aged white woman with a bunch of cute kids who regularly does press interviews, I am well-situated to be a poster person if I do encounter difficulties; if I did not have that mindset, I would probably get a burner phone, and I am keeping an eye on reports to see if I am going to switch gears and get one anyway.

Just an FYI - checking phones coming in to the US is not a new thing. It has been going on for quite awhile. But it is big news now because of people being denied entry because of what was found on their phones. It still has me worried though.

Yes, one of the tips is to delete social media apps.

A burner phone is any phone you consider cheap enough to essentially be disposable. Tracfone for example or an older model iphone but I would not go with a secondhand one since you might miss something the previous owner left in place.  At this time I don't think it is major concern unless you are already on file for suspicious activities but being prepared is never a bad idea.  I would remove all images that might be questionable; keep those to cute family holiday memories and pets. Remove all social media apps, edit your search history to safe wholesome things like quilting or knitting.  You don't want to wipe it so clean it looks like you don't actually use it because that is going to raise questions as to why you are carrying an obvious burner phone but you don't want anything related to politics on either side of the aisle, nothing that shows approval of violence, put in contacts for family and local to you businesses on a "who you gonna call" if you need an emergency plumber.. in other words more contacts than 4 that are family. Again, don't strip it down so much it looks like you never use it.  I also would not put any banking/credit card info on it. 

I must have missed the memo, but I travel a lot and I’ve never seen anyone’s phone get checked returning to the US. It can happen, but is it likely? Traveling with a burner phone makes you look like a drug mule and you sacrifice Google translate, lens, currency converter, and mapping apps. I’m rolling the dice on this one.

I’m guessing there might be specific groups being targeted.