Border Privacy: 52,080 Device Searches in Nine Months
U.S. Customs and Border Protection data shows a 32 percent year-over-year surge in electronic device inspections, with the agency withholding key demographic and location details.
By Sakura Novak ·
52,080 electronic devices were searched by U.S. border officers during the first three quarters of the 2026 fiscal year. This figure covers the period from October 1, 2025, to June 30, 2026. The number marks a more than 32 percent increase over the same stretch in the previous year, when 39,251 devices were inspected. The current nine-month total is approaching the record of 55,424 searches logged in all of fiscal 2025.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) broke down the 2026 total into two categories. Officers conducted 47,517 basic searches, which require no reasonable suspicion of wrongdoing. The remaining 4,564 were advanced searches, authorized when officers have reasonable suspicion of unlawful activity or national security concerns. Advanced searches permit officers to analyze or copy the contents of the device.
The agency declined to provide specific details on where the searches occurred. CBP did not specify how many took place at the Canadian border versus the Mexican border, nor did it break down the numbers between airports and land crossings. The agency also withheld data on the total number of travelers entering the country during the period and the split between U.S. citizens and non-citizens. These details are typically included in annual reports.
Jessica Turner, a CBP public affairs officer, noted that the searches affected a small fraction of the 419 million travelers who entered the country in 2025. She stated in an emailed response that only 0.01 percent of travelers have their devices searched year over year. Turner said the inspections aim to detect digital contraband, terrorism-related content, and information relevant to admissibility.
Esha Bhandari, director of the American Civil Liberties Union's Speech, Privacy and Technology Project, called for greater congressional oversight. She said it is difficult to speculate on the reasons for the increase because the government does not explain the trend. Bhandari argued that when the government holds a power, it tends to use it to the detriment of travelers' privacy. She described the aggregate data as difficult to interpret and cited anecdotes from travelers being asked about political opinions, writing, or religious practice.
In January, CBP updated its guidelines to expand the definition of searchable devices. The list now includes flash drives, SIM cards, GPS systems, unmanned aircraft systems, vehicle infotainment systems, and smart watches. The update also added the smuggling of narcotics, firearms, and goods, as well as transnational theft of proprietary information and digital contraband, to the crimes targeted by these searches. Bhandari characterized these changes as affecting only a few procedures at the margins.
Laura Dawson, executive director of the Future Borders Coalition, said the increase is hard to judge without knowing the location of the searches and the total number of crossings. She noted that inspections also happen at seaports and airports. Dawson suggested that the World Cup this summer may have brought a more diverse mix of visitors to the border. She also pointed to closer cooperation between Canadian and U.S. border services on issues like human smuggling and the Ryan Wedding case.
Dawson maintained that device searches remain rare despite alarming stories circulating on social media. By her figures, one in 9,000 crossings leads to a U.S. inspection, while one in 14,000 crossings leads to a search on the Canadian side. Canadian officials have searched a much smaller share of devices than their U.S. counterparts in recent years, with numbers falling. The Canada Border Services Agency stated that its 2026 statistics are not yet available.
