Technologies

US Border Agents Can Snoop Your Smartphone. Keep Your Info Private with a Burner Phone

Think you might need to get and use a burner? Here’s what to know.

If you’re traveling across borders, it’s time to look into getting a «burner phone,» particularly when entering the US. That’s because agents of US Customs and Border Protection are being more aggressive about scanning personal devices, according to some reports. Some businesses outside the US are now suggesting their employees use burners to safeguard personal and sensitive information.

But a burner isn’t just for crossing borders. A phone that doesn’t include all of your personal information or has a simpler interface can be quite handy, such as cutting down on unsolicited calls or even avoiding distractions. Comedian Conan O’Brien recently praised his burner as a way to not get bogged down in instant messages and notifications.

Read more: Best Prepaid Phone of 2025

Although carriers have offered prepaid phones since the ’90s, the term «burner phones» or «burners» essentially became popular in the 2000s due to its use in the celebrated HBO series The Wire, in which characters use burner phones to avoid getting caught by the police. Although often portrayed as such, burners are not only popular among criminals. With privacy concerns rising, you might consider using a burner phone yourself.

So, what exactly is a burner phone and how does it work? Below, we explain everything you need to know about burners and how to get one.

What is a burner phone?

Simply put, a burner phone is a cheap prepaid phone with no commitments. It comes with a set number of prepaid call minutes, text messages or data and is designed to be disposed of after use.

Burners are contract-free, and you can grab them off the counter. They’re called burner phones because you can «burn» them, i.e., trash them after use, and the phone cannot be traced back to you, which makes them appealing to criminals. Burner phones are typically used when you need a phone quickly, without intentions of long-term usage.

Burners are different from getting a regular, contract-bound cellphone plans that require a lot of your information to be on file.

Why should you use a burner phone?

Burner phones are an easy way to avoid pesky cellphone contracts or spam you may be getting on your primary phone number. Burners are not linked to your identity, so you can avoid getting tracked down or contacted if that’s what you need.

However, you don’t have to dispose of it after use — you can just add more minutes and continue using it. Burner phones can still function as regular phones, minus the hassle of getting a phone with a contract.

You can also get a burner phone as a secondary phone for a specific purpose, like having a spare phone number for two-factor authentication texts, for business purposes or to avoid roaming charges while traveling. You can get a burner phone for any privacy reasons you may have.

Read more: The Data Privacy Tips Digital Security Experts Wish You Knew

Burner phones, prepaid phones, smartphones and burner SIMs: What’s the difference?

Burner phones are typically cheap feature phones and usually don’t come with the bells and whistles of a smartphone. Because these are designed to be cheap and disposable, you only get the essentials and very simple designs. The flip phone is a common sight in the burner phone market.

All burner phones are prepaid phones, but not all prepaid phones are burners. What sets a burner apart is that you will not have to give away any personal information to get one and it won’t be traceable back to you. Also, it will be cheap enough to be trashed after use.

Prepaid smartphones are generally low-end models to begin with and burners are the cheapest prepaid phones you can get. However, you can use any unlocked smartphone with prepaid SIM cards if you want to, essentially making it a prepaid phone.

If you want to get a burner, you don’t necessarily have to buy a new phone. You can get a burner SIM and use it with an existing phone as well. Burner SIMs are prepaid SIMs you can get without a contract or giving away personal information.

Where can you buy a burner phone?

Burner phones are available at all the major retail outlets. You can pick them up from Walmart, Target, Best Buy and other big retailers. They’re also often available at convenience stores like 7-Eleven and Rite Aid, local supermarkets, gas stations, and retail phone outlets like Cricket, Metro and others.

You can get a burner phone with cash; a typical burner should cost between $10 and $50. It may cost more if you get more minutes and data with the phone. If you’re getting a burner phone specifically to avoid having the phone traced back to you, it makes sense to pay with cash instead of a credit card.

If you just want a prepaid secondary phone, you can pay for one with a credit card. Credit cards will leave a paper trail that leads back to you but that shouldn’t be an issue unless you really don’t want the burner phone linked back to you.

There are also many apps that let you get secondary phone numbers, including Google Fi and the Burner app. However, these cannot quite be called burners in the ideal sense, because these providers will typically have at least some of your personal information.

If you’re just looking to get a solid prepaid phone without anonymity, you can check out our full guide for the best prepaid phone plans available currently. We also have a guide for the best cheap phone plans you can get.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Mini Crossword Answers for Friday, May 2

Here are the answers for The New York Times Mini Crossword for May 2.

Looking for the most recent Mini Crossword answer? Click here for today’s Mini Crossword hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Wordle, Strands, Connections and Connections: Sports Edition puzzles.

Today’s NYT Mini Crossword was going pretty smooth for me until I hit 7-Across. I had the final four letters, but it seemed like the first letter should be R, which would not work. Thankfully, 1-Down was so easy, I was able to figure it out from that answer. Need some help with today’s Mini Crossword? Read on. And if you could use some hints and guidance for daily solving, check out our Mini Crossword tips.

The Mini Crossword is just one of many games in the Times’ games collection. If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.

Read more: Tips and Tricks for Solving The New York Times Mini Crossword

Let’s get at those Mini Crossword clues and answers.

Mini across clues and answers

1A clue: Do some legwork?
Answer: SQUAT

6A clue: Deep, narrow valley
Answer: GULCH

7A clue: Worn and shabby
Answer: TATTY

8A clue: Word below «To» on a gift card
Answer: FROM

9A clue: $2.90, for a N.Y.C. subway ride
Answer: FARE

Mini down clues and answers

1D clue: «___ Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band»
Answer: SGT

2D clue: Fancy word for «beverage»
Answer: QUAFF

3D clue: Prefix with marathon for a race over 26.2 miles
Answer: ULTRA

4D clue: Line memorizer
Answer: ACTOR

5D clue: Herb often paired with rosemary
Answer: THYME

How to play more Mini Crosswords

The New York Times Games section offers a large number of online games, but only some of them are free for all to play. You can play the current day’s Mini Crossword for free, but you’ll need a subscription to the Times Games section to play older puzzles from the archives.

Technologies

To Celebrate May the 4th, Ask Alexa These Star Wars Questions

Hrrmmm. Your Amazon virtual assistant, talk like Baby Yoda you can make. Yes, hrrmmm.

Alexa, May the Fourth be with you. For Star Wars Day, May 4, fans may choose to celebrate by watching Star Wars movies, or by scooping up games or merchandise. But if you have virtual assistants that use Amazon’s Alexa, such as an Echo or Dot, you can get your Star Wars fix for free from the comfort of your couch. Admittedly, there are not a whole galaxy of options, but try out the questions and commands written in bold below.

Alexa, tell me a Baby Yoda joke.
Alexa, tell me a Star Wars joke.
Alexa, how cute is Baby Yoda?
Alexa, talk like Baby Yoda.

Want some galactic humor? You can ask Alexa to tell you a Star Wars joke or even more specifically, a Baby Yoda joke. («What’s Baby Yoda’s favorite bedtime story? Goodnight, That’s No Moon.») You can ask her, «Alexa, how cute is Baby Yoda?» or ask her to talk like Baby Yoda, but in my experience, she only has one or two answers for each of those, so don’t keep repeating your requests.

Space Images From NASA and Beyond Make Star Wars Feel Very Real

+15 More

See all photos

Alexa, begin my Jedi lessons.
If you really want to educate yourself like Luke Skywalker, saying «Alexa, begin my Jedi lessons» will set her off with nine lessons in the world of Star Wars. Welcome, Padawan!

May the 4th: The 41 most powerful Star Wars spaceships, ranked

+39 More

See all photos

Alexa, use the Force.
When I tried this, Alexa offered up Star Wars jokes, mostly, but occasionally some interesting movie trivia. Did George Lucas really take the inspiration for the Millennium Falcon’s shape from a hamburger with a bite out of it? Sounds like he did. Alexa knows her Star Wars stuff.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Connections: Sports Edition Hints and Answers for May 2, #221

Hints and answers for the NYT Connections: Sports Edition puzzle, No. 221, for May 2.

Looking for the most recent regular Connections answers? Click here for today’s Connections hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle and Strands puzzles.

Connections: Sports Edition features a fun mix of categories today. The blue and purple answers jumped out at me, and hint — the purple ones might have done so because I live in Seattle. Read on for hints and the answers.

Connections: Sports Edition is out of beta now, making its debut on Super Bowl Sunday, Feb. 9. That’s a sign that the game has earned enough loyal players that The Athletic, the subscription-based sports journalism site owned by the Times, will continue to publish it. It doesn’t show up in the NYT Games app but now appears in The Athletic’s own app. Or you can continue to play it free online.

Read more: NYT Connections: Sports Edition Puzzle Comes Out of Beta

Hints for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups

Here are four hints for the groupings in today’s Connections: Sports Edition puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.

Yellow group hint: Getting ready to play.

Green group hint: Not South Carolina.

Blue group hint: Think Tour de France.

Purple group hint: Long-gone teams.