
CBP Wants New Tech to Search for Hidden Data on Seized Phones
Caroline Haskins
created: July 3, 2025, 5:19 p.m. | updated: July 8, 2025, 11:27 a.m.
CBP has been using Cellebrite to extract and analyze data from devices since 2008.
But the agency said that it wants to “expand” and modernize its digital forensics program.
The agency said in the recent listing that it uses “a wide variety of digital data extraction tools,” but it doesn’t name these tools.
It can also go through text messages, as well as direct messages on apps like TikTok, and filter out messages that mention certain topics, like evidence obstruction, family, or the police.
Users can also unveil photos “hidden” by a device owner, make social maps of friends and contacts, and plot the locations where a person sent text messages.
4 weeks ago: WIRED