A Georgia man has been charged with a felony for allegedly using a duress password to erase his phone while being questioned by Customs and Border Protection agents. Samuel Tunick, an activist associated with Stop Cop City protests in Atlanta, was told agents needed to search his device to check for child sexual abuse material, though court filings make no mention of such allegations. According to motions filed earlier this year, Tunick did not consent to the search and requested legal representation, but CBP officers stated they did not require a warrant. When agents entered the phone password, the device appeared to restart and go blank, which prosecutors claim was the result of Tunick activating a GrapheneOS duress password feature.
The case highlights significant legal uncertainty surrounding digital searches at U.S. borders. Federal appeals courts have issued conflicting rulings on whether agents can search devices without warrants. The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals determined that border agents may conduct manual device searches without judicial authorization, though more advanced forensic searches require warrants. Meanwhile, a federal judge in New York’s Eastern District has ruled that CBP cannot conduct any device searches without a warrant. The Supreme Court has addressed biometric unlocking separately, determining that law enforcement may use fingerprints or facial recognition without violating Fifth Amendment protections, but cannot compel disclosure of passcodes as that constitutes testimonial evidence.
Privacy advocates contend that current border search practices lack adequate safeguards. Nathan Freed Wessler of the ACLU’s Speech, Privacy, and Technology Project stated that Fourth Amendment protections should require either a warrant or specific suspicion of illegal content before device searches occur. Recent data shows CBP searched over 55,000 electronic devices during the 2025 fiscal year, representing a 32 percent increase since 2023, a notable figure given that the U.S. received more than 5 million international visitors in June 2025 alone.
Activists across the country have reported increased device seizures since earlier this year, with some alleging that CBP is systematically targeting political protesters under the guise of counterterrorism investigations. Multiple lawsuits have been filed describing patterns of surveillance targeting left-wing activists and organizers. A federal lawsuit in Minnesota claims CBP has been conducting “systematic” searches of activists’ devices, while a separate incident involved more than a dozen members of a humanitarian convoy having their phones seized at Miami International Airport in March. Privacy experts recommend backing up and wiping devices before travel as a precautionary measure, though they caution against erasing data during active questioning, as courts view such actions unfavorably.
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