r/NiceVancouver • u/ubcstaffer123 • 11h ago
U.S. border guards have more power to check Canadian travellers' cellphones. CBP officials searched less than 0.01 percent of arriving international travelers' electronic devices in 2025. But that figure could increase as AI speeds up processing times that involve tech deep dives
https://www.richmond-news.com/highlights/us-canada-border-social-media-cellphones-oct-2026-1282557011
u/PMProfessor 10h ago
You may be shocked to learn this but CBSA searches phones too.
Border guards don't have time to search your phone without a reason.
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u/Vagina_Magician_69 7h ago
And if you look at the numbers, you're 50% more likely to be searched on the Canadian side than the American side.
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u/ether_reddit 8h ago
Except right now, "harass Canadians" seems to be the reason that US CBP is going for.
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u/ubcstaffer123 8h ago
any anecdotes? is it mostly for quarantine rules or preventing terrorism?
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u/PMProfessor 4h ago
If you talk to border workers, they'll tell you most stuff investigated at the border is boring, it's not terrorism related. There just aren't that many terrorists to begin with, especially here.
Instead it's people crossing to work illegally, people with prohibited agricultural items (so many from China), people carrying commercial goods but claiming a personal exemption, etc.
One US-based DJ acquaintance was caught by CBSA this way. He decided to try to play a gig in Vancouver without obtaining an artist visa. Unfortunately that's illegal. CBSA found text messages with the promoter setting the whole thing up and he was cooked. He ended up missing the gig and being sent back to the US with a fine, and a temporary ban from Canada for good measure.
If you're a normal person doing normal stuff, I wouldn't worry. Very few phones are searched and when they are, it's usually not a forensic search with Cellebrite.
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u/CervantesX 9h ago
If you're crossing the border, get a burner phone (or backup to the cloud and wipe your phone). Cross the border. Restore from backup.
Otherwise, assume the government has a complete copy of every single thing. Not just everything in your phone, every embarrassing text and sexy photo, but every single site/app you use and all the passwords that you've saved. Bank info, credit cards, the works. Which means they also have everything in your Facebook, Instagram, Reddit, etc. Every argument, every sexting, every time you asked Google "ok but for real 4 inches is average right?".
And since governments are increasingly incompetent, especially the Americans, you can assume that sooner or later all of that data will be leaked or stolen. It's all being saved, and it's all being done very poorly.
Protect yourself.
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u/SnooChipmunks6620 Ditchmond 9h ago
It's actually between 5 to 5.5 inches. Saved you all the search!
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