Are CBP officers allowed to search and clone media devices?

I'm travelling to LAX and from some anecdotal horror stories I've seen online and in real life, I worry that customs officers may ask to search my laptop, seize it indefinitely and/or possibly clone the hard drive seeing as I've read that they have power to inspect you and every item when entering/leaving the United States.

I have a significant amount of pornography (all legal) on my laptop which I wonder would I have to declare to the officers as other countries such as Australia make travellers declare on arrival.

Best Answer

Yes. The American Civil Liberties Union has a guide on Can Border Agents Search Your Electronic Devices? It’s Complicated that describes current CBP policy and includes some recommendations such as encrypting your devices, and traveling with as little data as possible. They also have a guide called Know Your Rights: What To Do When Encountering Law Enforcement at Airports and Other Ports of Entry into the U.S..

The number of searches of electronic devices has increased, up to 19,000 last year, but it's important to note that this is still less than one-hundredth of one percent of border crossings. So while it can happen, it is quite unlikely.

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Can border agents check your phone?

This means that just like your luggage, our officers can examine your cell phones, tablets, laptops and any other digital device you are carrying. A digital device is defined as any device that is capable of storing digital data, such as: cell phones. smartphones.

What can CBP see?

What Types of Information Can a Customs Officer See?

Your name.
Date of birth.
Citizenship.
Address.
Mode of travel.
Purpose of travel.
Value of goods purchased abroad.

Can Border Patrol do search?

Agents may search any person, the inside of any vehicle, and all passenger belongings. Agents do not need a warrant, any suspicion of wrongdoing, or consent to do any of these things. CBP's own policy requires that searches be \u201cconducted in a manner that is safe, secure, humane, dignified and professional.\u201d

CBP revises border search rules for electronic devices

Sources: Stack Exchange - This article follows the attribution requirements of Stack Exchange and is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

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