Phone searches at the US border are more common than ever. Here’s how to protect your privacy before you travel and what to do if CBP asks for your device.
If you’re headed to the airport, you’re probably carrying your phone, loaded with personal information. Your boarding pass, flight information, hotel reservations—all of it is there right alongside other details like your social media, emails, photos, and more. That’s why handing it over to a stranger—especially while traveling internationally—can be scary. These days, phone searches at the US border are more common than ever, and not for security-related reasons.
Remember that the 4th Amendment of the US Constitution prevents “unreasonable searches and seizures” of personal property. That said, the US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has special authority to search devices entering or leaving the US by air, land, or sea. According to the CBP, in 2024, electronic device searches affected .01% of travelers at US ports of entry. Of those subjected to searches, more than 36,000 were not US citizens. Combined with ICE presence at airports and understaffed TSA checkpoints, you can see the problem.
With that in mind, I’ll address some frequently asked questions about device searches and provide…