U.S. Customs and Border Protection is dramatically increasing the number of their inspections of U.S. citizens’ and foreign travelers’ laptops, tablets and mobile phones when they enter the U.S., sometimes confiscating the devices for weeks or months to do a forensic analysis on them.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has been inspecting U.S. citizens and foreign travelers’ laptops, tablets and mobile phones at U.S. border entry points for years without a warrant, probable cause, or reasonable suspicion. Sometimes CBP has confiscated electronic devices for days, weeks or even months to perform detailed forensic analysis.
According to CBP data, they conducted about 8,500 electronic device searches at the U.S. border in fiscal 2015. By fiscal 2025 CBP searched 55,424 devices.
The Trump Administration has dramatically increased border searches of travelers’ electronic devices as they enter the U.S.
In fiscal 2026, the Trump Administration drastically increased border searches of electronic devices. In just the first three quarters of fiscal 2026, CBP officers searched 52,060 electronic devices, almost the same total as in all of the last fiscal year. If searches continued at the same rate in the final quarter, CBP will have searched an astounding 69,413 electronic devices in fiscal 2026, a 25.2 percent increase in the last year alone.
Travelers’ mobile phones often contain their most private, personal data and information.
While those searched are a small percentage of the travelers’ devices that enter the U.S. annually, don’t tell that to the people who had their private information laid bare to CBP officers, including family photos, private work data and personal health information, social media posts, personal passwords to banking and other financial accounts, private legal messages piercing attorney-client privilege and private messages with family and friends, etc.
Inspection of electronic devices by CBP at the border fall into two categories; basic and advanced. According to CBP, basic searches only have CBP officers scroll through travelers’ phones to scan their photos, work data, social media posts, messages, etc.
Basic searches are bad enough, but advanced searches use forensic tools to deeply analyze travelers’ most personal data.
Those searches are bad enough, but advanced searches use forensic tools to copy, scan and deeply analyze the device’s data. According to CBP, advanced searches generally require at least reasonable suspicion. If travelers refuse to give CBP officials a device passcodes or password, that will often trigger the device’s seizure, comprehensive examination and likely a significant delay of up to a month or more before the device is returned. According to CBP records, they conduct an advanced search on about 8.8 percent of the devices examined.
While in the U.S., citizens and foreign nationals are supposed to be protected by the Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution from unreasonable governmental searches and seizures, as well explained in a Congressional Research Service report, historically there has been a border search exception to the Fourth Amendment, including all ports of entry.
Many legal experts are questioning electronic device searches at the U.S. border that neither have reasonable suspicion or a warrant behind them.
Due to the personal and sensitive information contained on most electronic devices in use today, many legal experts have raised the question about border searches of electronic devices and if CBP shouldn’t be required to have at least a reasonable suspicion to search the devices at the border.
In United States v. Touset (2018), the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals held that forensic searches of electronic devices at the border are constitutional without a warrant, probable cause, or reasonable suspicion, On the other hand, in United States v. Cotterman (2018) the Ninth Circuit said that there needs to be reasonable suspicion to do a forensic search of electronic devices and equated such searches of electronic devices to a “computer strip search.” To date, the Supreme Court hasn’t ruled on searches of electronic devices at the border.
For decades, travelers have been almost paranoid about crossing the borders of Russia and China. Now many international travelers have added the U.S. to the list due to the Trump Administration’s aggressive inspection program of electronic devices of both foreign nationals and U.S. citizens entering the U.S. In recent years, Australia and New Zealand have joined the U.S., China, Russia and other nations in examining travelers’ “electronic lives,” at their borders.
There are measures that travelers can take to protect their digital privacy.
Sanitize your device:
It may seem drastic to some travelers, but after you back-up everything from your electronic devices, delete all non-essential information that you won’t need while traveling. That includes messages, documents, emails, bookmarks, contacts, calendar and even apps and their data.
At this point in time, based on the prosecution of Samuel Tunick, an Atlanta activist who is potentially facing five years in federal prison for knowingly wiping the data from his mobile phone while he was being questioned by CBP, for now, if you sanitize any of your electronic devices, do it before you reach the U.S. border. Apparently Mr. Tunick used a duress passcode that wiped his phone.
Lock it; encrypt it:
On your laptop, tablet and mobile phone, don’t make it easy for CBP to view/copy your data. My laptop computer uses a complex, lengthy passphrase to gain entry to its encrypted hard drive. On my tablet and mobile phone I use a six digit pin, not nearly as easy to break into compared to four digit pin. I turn off Face ID and disable Siri access when my iPhone is locked. If my devices used a fingerprint ID, I’d turn it off too. Apparently CBP can compel you to biometrically unlock your phone and other electronic devices, but they can’t force you to reveal a password or passphrase.
Make sure all your devices are off when entering the U.S. That way, CBP will be forced to use the password/passphrase to unlock them.
Refusal to give CBP your passwords/passphrases will probably cause U.S. citizens to be detained for a while and have their electronic devices confiscated, while foreign nationals will likely be refused entry into the U.S.
Be aware that if you refuse to give up your passwords/passphrases, as a U.S. citizen, you’ll likely be detained for a while by CBP and your electronic devices will likely be confiscated for a time. If you’re not a U.S. national, CBP will probably refuse you entry to the U.S. if you don’t allow them access.
Get your email and data as well as surf the web remotely, as needed:
When traveling internationally, remotely connect to your home/office computer through a VPN (virtual private network) connection. I use a subscription service so it’s easy to connect this way. When connected remotely, my emails, documents, web surfing, etc. are never on my laptop. If my laptop is examined at the border, there’s nothing of value on it for CBP agents to see or for me to lose.
Consider a travel smartphone or burner phone:
More than a few frequent international travelers I know own a second smartphone for use while traveling internationally or they purchase a burner phone for an international trip. They’ve taken advantage of those, two for one smartphone special offers that cell providers often advertise. They keep their travel smartphone “clean” only keeping a minimal amount of information on it, essential to their travel.
Don’t store private, confidential information on your electronic devices while traveling internationally.
Use the cloud:
For documents you might need while traveling that normally would be stored on your cellphone or laptop, store them on the cloud for access via the Internet while on the go. If you have to store them temporarily while on the go, delete them from your device immediately after using them. Always use a secure VPN connection to download documents.
When traveling internationally, visitors should understand that if you refuse access to your electronic devices, you’ll likely be refused entry to the country you want to visit and sent home, possibly after time in detention. If you’re a U.S. national, after questioning, you’ll be permitted to enter the U.S. If your electronic devices are “clean” rather than ruin your trip, consider allowing government agents to review your data, since there would be nothing of value for them.
After many years working in corporate America as a chemical engineer, executive and eventually CFO of a multinational manufacturer, Ned founded a tech consulting company and later restarted NSL Photography, his photography business. Before entering the corporate world, Ned worked as a Public Health Engineer for the Philadelphia Department of Public Health. As a well known corporate, travel and wildlife photographer, Ned travels the world writing about travel and photography, as well as running photography workshops, seminars and photowalks. Visit Ned’s Photography Blog and Galleries.
