Many people assume that once a message is deleted, it’s gone forever. But that may not be the reality, attorney Deepak Ahluwalia warned citing a recent case of a client who was stopped at the airport and agents allegedly read deleted messages from the phone. Ahluwalia said the client indicated that he was flying into San Francisco Airport. CBP took his phone and was able to recover permanently deleted messages.
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Ahluwalia said this incident should not sound completely bizarre given the amount of technology and AI tools the CBP and ICE are using now. "But I found it completely fascinating that despite not being linked to any cloud service, despite having messages permanently deleted, CBP was able to retrieve and read certain messages that ultimately were being used against the entry of the individual," the attorney said.
"If you’re traveling internationally, it’s important to understand that your electronic devices may be inspected and that digital information may still be accessible, even if you believe it has been deleted," the attorney said.
