Big brother at the border is looking for “hidden language” in people’s text messages
The U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has a bad voyeuristic habit and it is seeking some help to fix its fix. According to a WIRED report, the agency is currently asking tech companies to propose IT IT IT IT for digital forensics tools, which will allow it to process and analyze data from seized phones and computers and may reveal “hidden” patterns.
CBP said in its list of federal registries in June that it is seeking a tool to scan text messages, pictures, videos, contacts and other information stored on devices caught among U.S. border personnel. However, it not only processes all the data, it also requires a tool that can find the pattern in it. The agency hopes to be able to find “hidden language” in a person’s text message, such as the coding term “may not seem obvious in the first place.” It also needs to be able to identify specific objects that appear in videos and photos, and the agency hopes the tool can quickly process data from “Intel Generation”.
The request appears to be bordering on the pizza level of conspiracy thinking, as the agency is seeking to expand its digital forensics tools, in part because it is grabbing more people’s equipment. In 2015, it searched 8,500 devices. According to the agency, the trick soared to 41,500 devices in 2023. It also conducted 4,200 “advanced” searches, including 2024’s digital forensic deep exploration of the device.
CBP currently uses tools from Israeli intelligence company Cellebrite to scan scanning devices, but if someone offers more powerful tools, newcomers appear to be open to new immigrants. The agency claims to use “wired” “using various digital data extraction tools”, so it’s not as monogamous as Cellebrite.
The agency is not totally shy to snap up cell phones and other devices from Trump’s second term. CBP agents can and will require travelers to hand over and unlock the device so they can search for them, which has led some travelers to choose to pack burner phones on their trip to the United States to avoid unnecessary scrutiny when they arrive at the border.
In a request for information on this potential new tool, CBP recommends that it select suppliers and sign contracts to build the system in the third quarter of 2026. So, please be far away, so your eyes are set on the new authoritarian dystopian function that may drop sometime in 2027.
