Allegations of Data Misuse by U.S. Customs and Border Protection Employees (2009-2022)

Freedom of Information Act requests obtained by WIRED reveal hundreds of allegations that Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers and contractors accessed law-enforcement databases for personal reasons. Reported incidents include querying data to identify romantic interests, monitoring family members, contacting a flight attendant, and using trusted-traveler information to ask people out. One case involved a Department of Homeland Security employee tracking coworkers’ cell phones with ad-tech-derived location data—the first known internal abuse of such information. The allegations span records from 2009 through 2022, illustrating a pattern of non-official use of highly sensitive data.

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When complaints were filed, they were routed through the Joint Intake Center (now the CBP Intake Center) and entered into the Joint Intake Case Management System. WIRED identified almost 300 data-related entries. Of these, 138 were forwarded to CBP management for review, 78 were assigned to the Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR) for criminal investigation, and 43 were classified as “Information Only,” meaning OPR did not open a case. Smaller categories included 12 internal management reviews, three criminal investigations labeled “Law Enforcement Records,” two “Immediate Management Actions,” and a single formal administrative inquiry. CBP withheld 21 cases, invoking an exemption for active law-enforcement proceedings. WIRED counted 99 entries involving alleged breaches or unauthorized disclosures and 48 entries describing improper database queries. A concentration of cases occurred around 2020, when pandemic-driven remote work led some employees to email work files to personal accounts.

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CBP maintains that its digital surveillance tools are intended to help officers screen travelers and investigate crimes more efficiently.

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The documented misuse underscores concerns about how expansive data-access privileges can be weaponized against private individuals. The findings raise questions about the adequacy of internal oversight mechanisms, especially as CBP expands surveillance capabilities with facial-recognition systems, license-plate readers, and commercial location data. The concentration of incidents during remote-work periods suggests that procedural safeguards may be weaker when employees operate outside traditional office environments.

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