Device Searches and Security at the Center of New U.S.-Bound Traveler Advice

IT departments have long warned against taking sensitive information on company devices to places like China or warzones like Ukraine. Now, that same advice is starting to take hold for some EU travelers bound for America.

The European Commission issued U.S.-bound staff burner phones and basic laptops to avoid the risk of espionage, especially about trade negotiations, tariffs, and free speech disagreements, The Financial Times (FT) reported. The measures replicate those used on trips to Ukraine and China.

“The Commission confirmed that it had recently updated its security advice for the U.S., but said that no specific instructions about the use of burner phones were given in writing,” FT reported. “It said the bloc’s diplomatic service had been involved, as it routinely is in such updates.

“Officials said the guidance for all staff travelling to the U.S. included a recommendation that they should turn off phones at the border and place them in special sleeves to protect them from spying if left unattended,” the article continued.

A spokesperson for the European Commission confirmed that it does provide burner phones for top officials but denied that the practice was new.

Business and government travelers are also particularly cautious right now about the risk to sensitive information at border crossings into the United States. U.S. Customs and Border Patrol staff have the right to seize visitors’ phones and computers and check their content. Typically these searches are rare and are linked to suspicions about visa violations or checking for criminal data or activity.

Electronic device cautions come amid a variety of other travel advisories and warnings issued about coming to the United States. These aren’t necessarily new either—nations have long issued travel warnings about risks of gun violence or mass protest activity in the United States—but amid a crackdown on immigration enforcement, some European countries and Canada are warning citizens to strictly follow U.S. entry rules or risk detention.

Those countries warn that people with gender markers on their travel documents that do not reflect the traveler’s biological sex at birth could face visa or travel challenges, NPR reported. Canada also updated its U.S. travel guidelines to note that people who visit the United States for longer than 30 days must be registered with the U.S. government and that failure to comply could lead to penalties, fines, or prosecution.

In a volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous world, multinational companies should design a structured, multi-layered travel risk management framework that covers the entire travel cycle. https://t.co/q499lvrPp6

— Security Management (@SecMgmtMag) April 6, 2025

Digital searches could also lead to travel complications.

Some Canadian lawyers and executives have also warned people traveling to the United States to travel with burner phones or exercise particular caution about what devices—and data—they bring with them. Some public institutions in Canada—including one of the country’s top pediatric research hospitals, is recommending that staff avoid U.S. trips entirely “due to the escalation of issues and volatility in the U.S.” Other organizations, including the Canadian Association of University Teachers, specifically called out device searches as a reason for restricting travel, saying in a legal advisory that the searches risk “seriously compromising the protection of research confidentiality and academic freedom,” Bloomberg reported.

FT reported that tourists and visiting academics from Europe have been refused entry to the United States “after having social media comments or documents critical of the Trump administration’s policies on their phones and laptops.”

According to Newsweek, “Immigration attorneys have begun advising clients to ensure their social media profiles are free of criticism of the administration and images that could be seen as inappropriate or in support of ideas that do not fit with current U.S. foreign policy.”

Customs and Border Patrol officials denied that decisions to analyze content on travelers’ electronic media are politically motivated.