Europe Civil rights organization on US entry: Be careful with cell phones
"Be prepared, make a plan before you get to the checkpoint": This is the most important piece of advice from the American civil rights organization Electronic Frontier Foundation EFF for entering the USA.
31.03.2025, 05:35
SDA
A spokeswoman told the German Press Agency that this applies to tourists, students with an appropriate visa and also people who want to enter the USA for work.
It is particularly important to think about cell phones, laptops and everything they contain.
Very few people are checked more intensively when entering the country. Figures from the organization show that out of 420 million entries in 2024, twelve million were subjected to a so-called second level of questioning, and only 47,000 of them to a particularly thorough third level.
Are border officials using their powers differently under Trump?
The Washington Post reported that although the laws have not changed significantly in recent years, the way in which CBP officers use their powers is changing under President Donald Trump's administration.
This was also recently experienced by three Germans who were taken into custody on entering the USA.
Cell phones have been checked more frequently for several years
According to Sophia Cope, spokesperson for the civil rights organization, the number of checks on electronic devices upon entry has increased in recent years. "It will be interesting to see how it develops this year," she said.
The entry procedure works like this: In the first stage, the CBP border and customs officer only asks a few routine questions, such as the reason for the trip, checks the passport and waves the person through.
However, if the officer notices anything - or simply by chance - he can ask more detailed questions in a second stage, sometimes even examining the battery compartment of the laptop or asking the person wishing to enter the country to unlock their cell phone.
Immigrants in a "dilemma"
The civil rights organization speaks of a dilemma here: you can refuse, in which case the border official can confiscate the device and stop the person trying to enter the country, or you can unlock the cell phone. The officer could then check apps and emails, view photos and even copy data.
In a third stage, which is the least common, officers can connect cell phones or other electronic devices to their computers. This makes it possible to collect and store significantly more data. According to the Washington Post, this data can be stored for 15 years and can be viewed by thousands of border officials.
Do not connect your cell phone to the Internet
The spokeswoman advised people to switch their cell phones to flight mode before the check and not to use Wi-Fi. This way, the officer can only see what is directly on the cell phone, not what is stored in the cloud, for example. Border officials also have no constitutional right to do this: just as they are allowed to search a suitcase, but are not allowed to use the house key inside to search the house.
According to the spokesperson, officers are also only allowed to search public social media accounts, not private ones. It is important to consider how to deal with public posts. German tourists travel to the USA via the so-called Esta permit, which they have to fill out in advance and where they are also asked about social media accounts.
It is important to think about how to react to a critical situation at the border beforehand. Everyone has to decide for themselves. Using a second, practically empty cell phone to enter the country could arouse the suspicion of an official, said the spokeswoman. However, you could consider leaving certain devices at home.
