Can border agents search the photos on my phone?

You are flying into the United States, and you have read stories of officers going through phones at the airport. Your camera roll holds family photos, medical records, maybe photos of a partner. You want to know what an officer can see and whether you must unlock the phone. And what happens if you say no? US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) publishes its own rules, and they answer most of this. This page sums up those rules. It is not legal advice. We checked each fact against CBP’s own page and its 2026 directive on 2026-10-08.

What CBP says it can do

CBP’s position is that “all travelers crossing the United States border are subject to CBP inspection,” and that this “search authority extends to electronic devices.” Its current rules are in CBP Directive 3340-049B, effective 1 January 2026. It replaced the 2018 directive. EFF calls the new policy “not significantly different from 2018.”

CBP describes two kinds of search:

	Basic search	Advanced search
What happens	An officer looks through the device by hand	An officer connects equipment to copy or analyze the contents
Suspicion needed	Allowed with or without suspicion	Reasonable suspicion of a violation, or a national security concern
Approval	None	A senior manager
Share in FY 2025	92% of device searches	The rest

How often it happens

By CBP’s own count, not often. In fiscal year 2025, CBP processed more than 419 million travelers at ports of entry. It searched the devices of 55,318 international travelers. That is “less than 0.01% of all arriving international travelers,” and about 0.47% of people sent to secondary inspection. The quarterly numbers on CBP’s page have grown since 2024.

Do you have to unlock the phone?

CBP says travelers must present devices “and the information resident on the device in a condition that allows for the examination.” If a passcode or encryption stops the search, the device “may be subject to exclusion, detention, or other appropriate action.”

What happens next depends on who you are:

• US citizens. CBP says a US citizen “will not be denied entry” because CBP could not inspect the device. CBP can still detain the device.
• Foreign nationals. CBP “may consider the foreign national’s noncompliance” when it decides on admission.

If CBP keeps a device, the directive says the officer must give you Form 6051D, a custody receipt. Detention “ordinarily should not exceed five (5) calendar days”, with longer periods only on a manager’s approval.

The directive also limits passcodes. Officers may use them only for the inspection, should record them “in a temporary format”, and must delete them when the search ends.

What is in scope, and what is not

In scope: everything on the phone. The directive covers information on the device, “including information on the device that is accessible through software applications present on the device.” Photos in any app count, including a vault app.

Out of scope: data stored only in the cloud. CBP says officers “may not use the device to access information that is solely stored remotely.” Before a search, they ask you to switch on airplane mode and turn off Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, or they do it themselves.

Lawyer and client material. Files that you say fall under attorney-client privilege go to a separate review with CBP’s lawyers, the directive says. Ask a lawyer how this applies to you.

What travel guides advise

EFF’s travel guide asks travelers to judge their own risk, based on things like immigration status and travel history. Its main points:

1. Decide whether you can carry less, for example by leaving a device at home or moving content to the cloud.
2. Use encryption and keep a backup somewhere else.
3. Do not rely only on a fingerprint lock, which EFF calls “less secure than passwords.”
4. Power off your devices “shortly before arriving at the border.”
5. Stay calm and respectful, and do not lie to border agents or physically obstruct them.

EFF also warns that “forensic examination can typically recover deleted photos, unless the storage media has been securely wiped.” If officers took your device, or you are often sent to secondary inspection, EFF’s page lists ways to complain, including the DHS Traveler Redress Inquiry Program. For your own case, a lawyer or a group such as the EFF can advise.

Where York Vault fits

York Vault does not change what CBP can ask for. Items in York Vault are on your phone, so they are information that CBP’s directive covers. A vault protects photos from the people around you, not from a lawful search.

What York Vault does change is how it stores your data:

• Encrypted on the phone. Each item has its own key, and York Vault encrypts names, dates and thumbnails too. See end-to-end encryption.
• Deleted means gone. When you empty an item from Trash, York Vault destroys its key. Nobody can read the encrypted copy after that. See Trash and recovery.
• A copy off the phone. York Vault backs up every item to your own iCloud or Google Drive, encrypted. With York Cloud on Pro, a copy also sits on our servers. We cannot read it, as what we can and cannot see explains. The encrypted backup page explains restore with your code or recovery key.

Your York Vault code is separate from the phone passcode, as the lock options page explains. For a phone that leaves your hands at a repair shop, see phone repair privacy. Download York Vault for iPhone or Android.