They don’t have that feature, but iOS has something close.
iOS, Settings → Face ID & Passcode → Erase Data.
When enabled, it will erase the phone after 10 failed passcode attempts.
Not the same thing. Not even close. Would not have worked in this case, for example.
I think that this is a great feature, and I have it enabled myself, but one issue is that, after a five failed password attempts, iOS forces you to wait before you make another attempt, to the point that when there are nine failed attempts you need to wait an hour before the tenth attempt. By then I’d think that TSA would be on to you, and you wouldn’t have the opportunity to fail ten times yourself (it’s a total of 21 minutes until you get to the ninth attempt). It’d be much faster to do settings / general / reset and choose the factory reset option.
Well, yes. If you think you’re going to be inspected and have a reason why you may need to refuse, then it’s probably a good idea to do this. But you’d have to do it before they ask (e.g., while deplaning).
Once Customs asks for the phone, any attempt at data destruction after that point is criminal.
That actually remains to be decided by the courts.
If DHS’ entire argument is that they can seize and search without warrant because at their checkpoint you are not yet in the US and thus are not protected by the BoR, then what statute would they base their “crime” on once your OS wipes the device after they enter the triggering passcode?
They can’t have it both ways. Either US laws apply or they don’t. If they want to push such criminal charges, they’d need to concede that their checkpoints are indeed subject to US laws and jurisdiction. And then they can say goodbye to warrantless searches. I doubt they really want to go down that route.
It’s not that you’re not in the US, it’s that there’s a border search exception.
It is not just international travel that is a security issue. Any electronic comms with people in Russia are vulnerable (maybe that has always been the case)