Returning from vacation? The government can search your phone without a warrant

	Returning from vacation? The government can search your phone without a warrant(arstechnica.com)
	403 points by rbanffy 12 days ago \| 369 comments
	tl;dr: Under the long-standing "border exception" to the Fourth Amendment, CBP can search and copy data from travelers' phones without a warrant at ports of entry. A Florida immigrant rights organizer is suing after his phone was seized returning from vacation, alleging CBP targeted him for his political activism. CBP says such searches are rare, affecting only 0.0013% of the 419 million travelers processed in FY2025.
	HN Discussion: ↑Border agents wield excessive power globally, often exploited by law enforcement for easier data collection ~The core problem is lack of transparency and accountability, not just the warrant exception itself ↑The Fourth Amendment text is clear and this practice plainly violates it ↑Individuals should take technical measures (GrapheneOS, data sovereignty, wiping, dual profiles) to protect themselves ↑CBP's cited statistics are misleading as search rates have actually increased over time