How to Clean Up Your Digital Footprint Before US Travel Inspections

In recent weeks, there has been increased scrutiny at U.S. borders, with reports of some travelers being denied entry for suspicious activities — such as circuitous flight routes to their end destination — or even allegedly for having digital evidence of being critical about the Trump administration.

There has been rising concern about travelers’ wellbeing following not only these border confrontations but also the high-profile detainments of green card holders in the U.S. — and some countries are issuing advisories to their citizens with U.S. travel plans.

Some internationals have decided to boycott U.S. travel and goods, in protest to the U.S.’s recent isolationist policies. Additionally, forums on reddit and Quora have exploded with questions about how to sanitize devices and digital footprints before entering the country to reduce risk of being turned away. 

How to Clean Up Your Digital Footprint

Here are some steps you can consider to sanitize your devices and your digital footprint before traveling to the U.S.

Save Your Data Off Your Device

• Photos: Back up your photos to a cloud storage service and delete any on your device that might raise concerns. Make sure to sign out and delete the app after uploading your images, so that they’re not easily accessible through the phone.
• Messages: You can also back up text messages and WhatsApp messages critical of current U.S. policies, delete them, and then restore them later if they are important to you.

Password Protection

• Passwords: Delete your passwords from the native password manager (ie. Apple’s Keychain) and install a third-party password manager with travel mode functionality, for example 1Password. This allows you to define what passwords and logins are “safe for travel” and which should not be accessible through your device.
• Turn off Face ID or Touch ID: Although using phone biometrics is usually an excellent security tip, you can turn off your Face ID or Touch ID to restrict access to your device or apps. It’s much easier to physically compel access to a device through face or touch ID than it is to force you to hand over the passcode. Make sure that a passcode is set and that the device is configured to lock itself after a small amount of failed unlocks.

Social Media

• Adjust privacy settings: DHS announced it will start monitoring immigrants’ social media accounts for antisemitism, and we’ve already seen cases of CBP officials looking up travelers’ social media accounts even without being provided the handles. To be safe, turn all social media accounts to private so only your direct contacts can see your posts.
• Delete posts that might be controversial: Delete posts that might be controversial to U.S. policies. If you don’t want to lose information, you can also back up your social media accounts before you delete anything.
• Delete social media apps: To ensure CBP agents can’t see your posts from your phone (since even the most private post would still be accessible through your own device), delete all social media apps and check that you’re not signed in to any social media networks through a web browser.

Full-Device Security

• Leave your devices at home: If you don’t need your devices, just leave them at home to avoid any hassle — though traveling without any devices at all might look suspicious. Alternatively, purchase a cheap replacement device and use that for travel, leaving your day-to-day primary devices at home.
• Don’t wipe your devices: If you’re extra worried about your digital footprint, you might be tempted to simply restore your device to factory settings and remove all data. Although this might remove any questionable data from your device, it might also look suspicious to CBP officials.

Can Customs and Border Protection CBP Inspect Your Devices & Online Accounts?

The short answer is yes, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has the legal authority to inspect your devices, whether you’re a U.S. citizen or not. However, they don’t have the right to examine data stored on the cloud — at least not right now.

“All travelers crossing the United States border are subject to CBP inspection. On rare occasions, CBP officers may search a traveler’s mobile phone, computer, camera, or other electronic devices during the inspection process.” 

 — U.S. Customs and Border Protection

The reasons for these searches, listed on the CBP website, include identifying and combating “terrorist activity, child pornography, drug smuggling, human smuggling, bulk cash smuggling, human trafficking, export control violations, intellectual property rights violations and visa fraud, among other violations.” 

Note that CBP can use device searches to evaluate “an individual’s intentions upon entry to the United States and thus provide additional information relevant to admissibility of foreign nationals under U.S. immigration laws.”

Are Device Searches Increasing at Border Crossings?

President Trump signed an executive order — “Protecting the United States from Foreign Terrorists and Other National Security and Public Safety Threats” — on Jan. 20, 2025. This order calls for enhanced vetting and screening “to the maximum degree possible,” foreigners entering the U.S. CBP denies increasing device searches as a result of the executive order.

“Claims that CBP is searching more electronic media due to the administration change are false,” CBP Assistant Commissioner Hilton Beckham told Newsweek. “CBP’s search numbers are consistent with increases since 2021, and less than 0.1 percent of travelers have their devices searched.”

“These searches are conducted to detect digital contraband, terrorism-related content, and information relevant to visitor admissibility—all of which play a critical role in national security,” Beckham said to Newsweek. “Allegations that political beliefs trigger inspections or removals are baseless and irresponsible.”

It’s worth noting that the CBP website states that “in Fiscal Year (FY) 2024, less than 0.01 percent of arriving international travelers encountered by CBP at a port of entry had their electronic devices searched.”

We’ve reached out to CBP about the percentage discrepancy, and we’ve yet to receive a response to our inquiry. 

It’s possible that the device searches have simply gotten more attention as a result of the visa refusals and detentions, which have raised the awareness of the searches, rather than an increase in searches overall.

What Can CBP Search On Your Device?

At this time, immigration officials can search your physical device, but they cannot search any connected cloud services, like your cloud storage.

However, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) requested to change the application forms to include a section for travelers’ social media handles, allegedly to better comply with President Trump’s executive order, as reported by Newsweek. 

Additionally, on April 9, 2025, DHS announced it would start monitoring immigrants’ social media activity to inspect for antisemitism.

“DHS will enforce all relevant immigration laws to the maximum degree, to protect the homeland from extremists and terrorist aliens, including those who support antisemitic terrorism, violent antisemitic ideologies and antisemitic terrorist organizations such as Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Hezbollah, or Ansar Allah aka: ‘the Houthis.'”

– U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Website

We will continue to cover this story as it develops.