5 Things You Need to Know About United States Customs and Border Protection’s New Digital Border Crackdown
- New biometric exit system at major airports: United States Customs and Border Protection has begun rolling out a mandatory facial recognition system at select international departure gates. Travelers will now have their photos taken and matched against visa and passport records before boarding flights, aimed at preventing overstays and identity fraud.
- Real-time drone surveillance on the southern border: CBP is deploying a fleet of advanced drones with thermal imaging and AI-powered object detection to monitor remote stretches of the U.S.-Mexico border. These drones can track illegal crossings for up to 24 hours without refueling, sending live data to ground agents.
- Ban on certain electronic devices expands: Officers can now detain and inspect laptops, phones, and tablets without a warrant at ports of entry for up to 14 days. United States Customs and Border Protection claims this is to combat child exploitation and smuggling, but privacy advocates are sounding the alarm over data seizures.
- Asylum-seeker app faces major abuse: The CBP One appointment system, designed to streamline legal entry for migrants, has been overwhelmed by fraudulent account creation. United States Customs and Border Protection is now requiring identity verification via live video calls to combat bots and smugglers gaming the system.
- New penalties for exporting dual-use tech to adversaries: CBP agents have seized over $200 million in advanced electronics and software bound for companies linked to China and Russia since January. United States Customs and Border Protection is now using machine learning to flag suspicious export patterns, leading to a dramatic rise in penalties for tech companies.