The article details how US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents at airports are increasingly confiscating and searching travelers' phones, even from US citizens, often without warrants. It focuses on the case of a labor organizer whose phone was seized at Minneapolis airport along with political literature, raising significant privacy and civil liberties concerns. The practice highlights the tension between border security measures and constitutional rights.
Background
US Customs and Border Protection has broad authority to search electronic devices at ports of entry under the 'border search exception' to the Fourth Amendment. This practice has become increasingly common, with device searches rising from 8,500 in 2015 to over 30,000 in 2017.
- Source
- The Verge
- Published
- Jun 6, 2026 at 12:15 AM
- Score
- 7.0 / 10