TL;DR Can TSA search your phone?
- The Transportation Security Administration is focused on physical threats, not your data or phone content. The agency can swab a phone for explosives or ask you to power it on to prove it’s a real device, but it does not search your digital content. They say they don’t search the contents of your phone or extract data.
- That said, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) border agents you meet when you enter the United States can search the contents of your devices at the border without a warrant. Basic phone or electronic checks can be done without a warrant; deeper advanced searches need reasonable suspicion and supervisor approval. (Department of Homeland Security)
- It’s rare. In FY2024, CBP searched about 47,000 devices out of hundreds of millions of arrivals—under 0.01%. Most were basic, not forensic.
- Refusing to unlock: U.S. citizens can’t be denied entry but risk delays and device seizure; non-citizens can be refused admission. (American Civil Liberties Union)
Table of Contents
The TSA Won’t Go Through Your Electronic Devices
I will start with the good news, which is that TSA agents can’t legally search through your phone’s content during routine security screening. Their focus is on physical threats like weapons, explosives, and contraband that could endanger a flight.
In a 2018 lawsuit, the agency clarified that it “does not search electronic devices for electronic content that may be contained on the devices, and does not extract data from passenger electronic devices.”
So your messages or the content of your device does not fall into that category.
At most, they might ask you to turn it on to confirm it’s a working phone and not a disguised explosive device. Sometimes they even swab the exterior for explosive residue. That’s it.
If something about the physical device looks odd on the X-ray scanner, an officer may scan it to prove the shell isn’t hiding contraband.
It’s a hardware check, not a data dive, just to confirm the device is legitimate and not a hollowed-out shell hiding something dangerous.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection Can Actually Search Your Phone
CBP officers have far broader powers than TSA officers. They can legally search your electronic devices without a warrant.
That includes digging through photos, social media apps, texts, and more.
CBP guidance also says officers should disable connectivity (e.g., airplane mode).
Practically, that means they’re supposed to look at data resident on the device, not pull fresh content from your cloud accounts during the search.
It may interest you to know that phones are not often searched.
According to CBP data, out of 420 million international travelers arriving in Fiscal Year 2024, 47,047 had their electronic devices searched. That’s roughly 0.01% of travelers, which is relatively rare. Ninety percent were “basic searches” where officers manually scroll through your content.
Your rights change with your status
Your citizenship status determines what happens if CBP asks to search your phone.
- U.S. citizens cannot be denied entry to their own country, even if they refuse to unlock their devices. But your phone can be detained, and you may face delays and additional questioning, according to the American Civil Liberties Union.
- Lawful permanent residents (green card): You’re generally entitled to re-enter, but refusing to cooperate can trigger device seizure and immigration headaches.
- Visa holders: Refusing to cooperate with the officers can lead to denial of entry. If you’re travelling for work or study, be especially cautious about what’s on the device you carry.
How to Protect Your Data before a U.S. trip
I’m not a lawyer, but I take digital privacy seriously. After researching what privacy experts and immigration attorneys have to say on this matter, I’ve compiled practical things you can do before traveling internationally:
- Encrypt your device properly. Both iPhones and newer Android phones have full-device encryption turned on by default. Android users should verify this in the advanced settings tab of your security menu. For laptops, macOS offers FileVault, and some Windows computers include BitLocker.
- Turn everything off before the border. The Electronic Frontier Foundation recommends shutting down your devices completely before entering the U.S. This returns your phone to a heightened security state that makes encryption harder to break.
- Turn off biometric unlocks. Face ID or fingerprints make it easy for an officer to unlock your phone without consent. Use a strong passcode instead.
- Store sensitive data in the cloud. I would keep sensitive docs, chats, and photos off the device and in cloud storage I can access later. Since CBP is only authorized to search what’s physically on your device. They can’t browse your Google Drive or iCloud (unless you’re logged in).
- Delete selectively, not everything. You might think wiping your phone clean before travel offers maximum protection. Actually, that could raise more suspicion. I recommend you remove specific apps/media you don’t need for the trip and clear “recently deleted” folders.
Related: Find out how to plan a trip abroad!
FAQs
They can ask you to power it on to show it works if the device itself looks suspicious, but TSA says it does not search your electronic content.
If anyone does, it’s CBP at the border, not TSA at the checkpoint, and CBP policy distinguishes between a quick on-device look and a forensic download that requires reasonable suspicion and supervisor approval.
They’re testing for trace explosives, the same way they swab hands, belts, or laptop shells. It’s a quick chemistry test, not a data scan.
- Incomplete or missing travel documents
- A name matching a person of interest in a federal database
- Prior law violations (even minor ones)
- Random selection
So, Can TSA Search Your Phone?
CBP, on the other hand, plays by a different rulebook at international borders. They can access your data without a warrant, and your best defense is preparation — encryption, awareness, and a calm head at the airport.
If you think your privacy was breached during a search, you can file a complaint through the CBP website or reach out to civil liberties groups like the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) or the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).
