Does U.S. Customs have your phone’s messages, photos?

Customs and Border Protection officials say they’re saving data from around 10,000 detained electronic devices a year.

By Brenda Ruiz
Passengers enter a checkpoint at O’Hare International Airport on Monday. The TSA reports it screened over 1 million passengers on Sunday, the highest number since the coronavirus crisis began.
Passengers enter a checkpoint at O'Hare International Airport on Monday. The TSA reports it screened over 1 million passengers on Sunday, the highest number since the coronavirus crisis began.
Passengers enter a checkpoint at O’Hare International Airport on Monday. The TSA reports it screened over 1 million passengers on Sunday, the highest number since the coronavirus crisis began.
Passengers enter a checkpoint at O'Hare International Airport on Monday. The TSA reports it screened over 1 million passengers on Sunday, the highest number since the coronavirus crisis began.

Does U.S. Customs have your phone’s messages, photos?

Customs and Border Protection officials say they’re saving data from around 10,000 detained electronic devices a year.

By Brenda Ruiz
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Officials say the data they gather at U.S. Customs from phones — data that includes contacts, messages and photos — is saved for 15 years in a database, calling into question the department’s ability to access it at will and without a warrant.

Reset digs into how this is happening and what you can do to protect your data.

GUEST: Tatum Hunter, Washington Post technology writer based in San Francisco