Legal

I filed a FOIA request expecting a few dry records. What came back was 50+ pages of physical descriptions, secondary screening notes, and border officer remarks I didn't know existed. Here's how to read yours.

At the U.S. border, the Fourth Amendment doesn't apply to your phone. Officers can search it without a warrant — and they do. What's actually on there, and what you can do before you land.

The most complete surveillance profile on you as a traveler isn't in a government database — it's sitting with your airline. And you handed most of it over voluntarily, in exchange for miles you'll probably never use.

A tourist in Dubai filmed a missile strike, deleted the video when told to, and was charged anyway. What you film, store, and post follows you across every border.