Monday at 9: 14 a. m. ET — Travelers crossing into the United States now face broader and faster electronic device scrutiny, affecting phones, laptops and wearable tech at the border. The change follows a sharp rise in inspections and updates to U. S. Customs and Border Protection guidance; us cbp phone searches appear poised to become more frequent.
Us Cbp Phone Searches Expand to Smartwatches, SIM Cards and Flash Drives
U. S. Customs and Border Protection searched 55, 318 computers, cellphones and other devices last year, a 17. 6% increase from 47, 074 the prior year, and has updated its directive to add new categories of searchable items. The expanded list names smartwatches and SIM cards among devices now subject to inspection, and also covers USB flash drives and external hard drives. That numerical jump and the new device categories mean officers have both more targets and clearer guidance for searches.
Canada Border Services Agency Tightens Oversight While Global Affairs Warns Travelers
Global Affairs Canada issued a warning about possible device checks at the U. S. border starting last year, prompting the Canada Border Services Agency to respond with stricter internal rules. Karine Martel, a spokesperson for the CBSA, said the Canadian border is moving in the opposite direction and that examinations of electronic devices should not be routine. The CBSA already requires chiefs and superintendents to approve and review personal digital device examinations, a policy introduced in 2021, and has introduced more detailed notetaking requirements for officers who conduct those examinations.
Pete Hoekstra’s Statement and CBP Data Gaps Fuel Public Concern
Pete Hoekstra, the U. S. ambassador to Canada, issued a statement saying media coverage drove fear among travelers, but the CBP report for 2025 left key questions unanswered. The 2025 device search report did not disclose what portion of searches involved Canadian travelers or those from Mexico, nor did it say whether most inspections occurred at airports or at land crossings. Experts quoted in reporting say advances in detection technology mean searches can be performed faster than before, and CBP’s new technology may encourage more frequent inspections this year and into the future.
Still, the expansion of searchable items is concrete: the CBP device list now explicitly includes multiple categories of equipment. Mobile devices lists smartphones and cellphones; computers and laptops include tablets and laptops; storage media lists hard drives, external drives, USB flash drives, SIM cards and memory cards; imaging devices list cameras and drones; and other digital devices list smartwatches, wearable technology and vehicle infotainment systems.
Yet, CBP did not provide a country-by-country breakdown of the 55, 318 searches or a breakdown by crossing type. That lack of location and nationality detail has left Canadian travelers and officials without a clear sense of where inspections are concentrated, even as the raw totals show a significant rise year over year.
That said, officials in Canada have taken specific administrative steps that narrow when and how device examinations occur. The CBSA’s 2021 requirement for supervisory approval of personal device exams and its enhanced notetaking rules are intended to limit routine searches and to document examinations more thoroughly when they are carried out.
Still, the combination of expanding CBP guidance, rising inspection counts and faster detection tools means both travelers and border agencies will face new operational pressures. U. S. and Canadian travelers may experience more inspections, and border agencies will need to manage oversight and recordkeeping with those higher volumes.
More details expected in the coming year: if CBP maintains its expanded searchable device list, device inspections could increase further in 2026. The next major milestone for assessing the trend will be device search counts for 2026; if the expanded list remains in force, the year-over-year rise in inspections is likely to continue by that timeframe.
