Australian border force searched more than 40,000 mobile devices in five years, data shows

Border force officers searched more than 40,000 devices, including phones, at the border in five years, new data reveals.

A freedom of information request by tech news site ITnews revealed officers had searched phones, computers and other devices at the border 41,410 times between 2017 and the end of 2021. That figure included 951 phones between May 2020 and the end of 2021.

In practice, this has meant asking travellers to provide their passcode or password to devices so they can be examined.

There is no limit on time for how long the devices can be held for, but the agency said the policy is to keep devices for no longer than 14 days, unless it will take longer to examine the device.

The policy document reveals that the owner of the device must not be allowed to gain access to the device until an officer has completed the examination. That means mobile devices must be put into flight mode and have their SIM card removed, and laptops must have batteries removed if possible, rather than just shut down.

It also suggests that for Apple iPhones where the passcode is not known, officers consider holding any computer the owner has.