Sponsors (5)
The bill strengthens privacy protections, transparency, and clearer rules for digital device searches at the border—protecting persons from intrusive warrantless searches and unlawful evidence use—but does so at the cost of added administrative burdens, potential delays or limits on law-enforcement and national-security investigations, and possible litigation or operational risks.
Immigrants, travelers, and U.S. persons at the border retain stronger privacy protections because searches of phone and account contents generally require a probable-cause warrant and seizures are limited absent felony-level probable cause.
Fewer warrantless inspections of digital devices reduces exposure of sensitive personal data (photos, messages, location, health/financial records), lowering risks of intrusive surveillance and harms to privacy and safety.
Digital content and derived account evidence obtained unlawfully at the border cannot be used in federal, state, local, or immigration proceedings, protecting individuals from prosecution or removal based on illegally collected data.
Border and national-security investigators and local law enforcement may face delays or reduced ability to detect contraband, child-exploitation material, or imminent threats because probable-cause warrants are required before searching device contents.
Requiring warrants, expanded recordkeeping, and regular reporting will increase operational and administrative costs for DHS, courts, and agencies (training, staff time, warrant applications, report preparation), which are borne by taxpayers and federal employees.
Excluding unlawfully obtained digital evidence from criminal, civil, regulatory, and immigration proceedings could impede prosecutions, regulatory enforcement, and immigration removals when key digital evidence is suppressed.
Based on analysis of 8 sections of legislative text.
Requires probable-cause warrants for accessing U.S. persons' digital device contents/accounts at the border, limits seizures, creates a narrow emergency exception, bars use of unlawfully obtained data, and mandates DHS reporting.
Introduced April 2, 2025 by Ted Lieu · Last progress April 2, 2025
Requires U.S. government agents at the border to obtain a probable-cause warrant under the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure before accessing the digital contents of electronic devices or online accounts belonging to United States persons, with a narrow emergency exception and limits on device seizure. It also bars using unlawfully obtained digital data in federal, state, local, and immigration proceedings, requires informed-consent notice before requesting access or credentials, and imposes annual public reporting by DHS on border digital-access activity. The bill defines covered terms (like access credentials, digital contents, online account) and sets procedural limits: no denial of entry/exit for refusing to provide passwords or account info, a four-hour cap on delays to seek voluntary access, mandatory destruction or nondisclosure in specified warrantless-access situations, and a requirement that seizures of devices belong to felony-probable-cause standards; it preserves routine external-device inspections and FISA authorities.