CBP Device Searches Hit 52,080 as Privacy Advocates Demand Transparency

U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers inspected 52,080 electronic devices in the first nine months of fiscal year 2026, a 32 percent increase over the same period a year prior. The figures cover the stretch from October 1, 2025, to June 30, 2026. This total already approaches the 55,424 devices searched in all of fiscal 2025, suggesting a new record is imminent.

The agency classifies 47,517 of these inspections as basic searches, which officers may conduct without reasonable suspicion of wrongdoing. The remaining 4,564 were advanced searches, authorized by reasonable suspicion of unlawful activity or national security concerns. These advanced probes allow officers to analyze or copy device contents.

CBP declined to specify how many searches occurred at the Canadian versus Mexican borders, or how they divided between airports and land crossings. The agency also withheld data on the total number of travelers entering the country and the ratio of searches involving U.S. citizens versus non-citizens. Public affairs officer Jessica Turner stated via email that only 0.01 percent of the 419 million travelers who entered in 2025 had their devices searched.

Esha Bhandari, director of the American Civil Liberties Union’s Speech, Privacy and Technology Project, argued that the rise in inspections requires greater congressional oversight. She noted that the government rarely explains the reasons for the increase. Bhandari said that when the government holds this power, it often uses it to the detriment of traveler privacy, citing anecdotes of officials questioning individuals about political opinions and religious practices.

In January 2026, CBP updated its guidelines to include flash drives, SIM cards, GPS systems, unmanned aircraft, and smartwatches under the scope of device searches. The update also added smuggling of narcotics and firearms to the list of detectable crimes. Bhandari described these changes as minor procedural adjustments, suggesting the overall surge reflects technological advances and a lack of judicial limits on government authority.

Laura Dawson, executive director of the Future Borders Coalition, said the increase is difficult to evaluate without knowing the exact locations of the searches or the total volume of cross-border traffic. She pointed to the World Cup held that summer and tighter cooperation between Canadian and U.S. border services on issues like human smuggling and the Ryan Wedding case as potential factors.

Dawson maintained that device searches remain rare despite viral social media reports. Her analysis indicates that one in 9,000 crossings results in a U.S. inspection, while one in 14,000 leads to a search on the Canadian side. The Canada Border Services Agency reported that its 2026 statistics are not yet available, though Canadian officials have searched a smaller share of devices in recent years.