PackLight · The packing table
Packing list · US crossing
Pack your data the way you pack your bag: only what the trip needs.
A basic search at the US border needs no suspicion, and it reads what is on the device. Officers ran 55,318 of them last year. So decide at this table, not at the counter: two minutes here builds your personal, lawful packing plan. Minimize before you fly. Restore after you cross.
Free, no email. Lawful data minimization. Not legal advice.
Things an officer could open
Not counted yet. Lay out your devices below.
Lay out what you're carrying.
Eight questions, two minutes, and the plan is yours to keep. Every answer stays in your browser. Nothing is sent anywhere until you ask us to send you something.
What kind of data does your work put on your devices?
Some professions carry a duty to protect what's on the device.
On the device · what a basic search reads
A basic search reads what is on the device, not what is only in your cloud.
- Passportstays with you
- SIMstays with you
Packed away · archived, not carried
Not deleted. Not hidden. Just not with you.
Empty, for now.
0 of 8 placed. Under two minutes to go.
The other side of the counter.
You have just packed your table in daylight. This is the log it meets at the border.
Device searches reported by CBP.
A second record year.
55,318
Devices searched, up 18%: a third straight record year, with non-citizens searched at roughly three times the citizen rate. A basic search needs no suspicion and reads what is on the device. Which is why you decide at the table, not at the counter.
Basic search · no suspicion required · CBP Directive 3340-049B
A basic search is an officer looking through the device by hand; under the directive (updated January 2026) it requires no suspicion. An advanced search, which connects the device to equipment that copies and analyzes it, has a higher bar. Sources: CBP Directive 3340-049B and CBP enforcement statistics, FY2025.
Three lanes. Three different amounts of room to decline.
What an officer may lawfully do is the same in every lane. What it costs you to decline is not, which is the whole reason to carry less before you ever reach the counter.
PrimarySecondaryDevice search
U.S. citizen
You cannot be denied entry for declining to unlock a device. CBP can still detain the device, copy it, and delay your travel for hours or days. Minimizing beforehand is what stops a detained phone from costing you your data.
Green-card holder
A returning lawful permanent resident generally cannot be turned away for declining alone, and your status cannot be abandoned on the spot. Refusal can still bring detention, delay and added scrutiny.
Visa or ESTA
Admission is a privilege, so declining to unlock can be grounds to send you home, and misrepresenting your device's contents can make you permanently inadmissible. This is why the minimizing happens lawfully, before you fly.
Lay out your devices above and your lane lights up here. PackLight never advises concealing anything, and never scripts what to say to an officer: answer every question truthfully.
When to do it.
The pack-down is not a lifestyle. It is four moments on a clock, and it is reversible by design.
T-24h
Back up, then lighten
Move what the trip does not need to a secure cloud account and take it off the device. A basic search reads what is on the phone, not what is only in the cloud.
Photo library · chats · downloadsT-2h
Passcode over biometrics
Switch to a long alphanumeric passcode and turn face and fingerprint unlock off for the crossing. It is the single biggest change to how the device is opened.
Phone · laptopAt the checkpoint
Powered off, and truthful
You are carrying a device with only what the trip needs. Answer every question truthfully and never misrepresent what is on it. PackLight does not script what you say to an officer.
Passport · SIMT+1h
Restore
The half nobody else productizes: a guided walkthrough puts your accounts, apps and data back exactly as they were. Packing light is reversible, not a purge you dread.
Everything, backThe line item.
Founding kitUSD 39
At launchUSD 79
Due nowNothing
Founding price, locked before launch · no card, no sales call
The kit is the full status-specific pack-down, the lane notes for the checkpoint, and the guided restore walkthrough for after you cross. The assessment above stays free.
Asked, answered.
Every answer stays on the table. A product whose thesis is “carry less, hide nothing” does not hide its own answers.
Is this legal? It sounds like helping people dodge a search.
It is lawful, and it is the opposite of dodging. PackLight only ever advises data minimization: backing up and removing data, signing out of accounts, powering off, and choosing a strong passcode. These are ordinary security practices. What PackLight will never tell you to do is hide data from an officer's direct question, lie to CBP, or misrepresent what is on your device. For visa and ESTA holders in particular, misrepresentation can lead to permanent inadmissibility, so we draw that line hard, on every screen.
Can CBP really search my phone with no reason at all?
For a basic search, where an officer looks through the device by hand: yes. Under CBP Directive 3340-049B a basic search requires no suspicion. An advanced search, which connects the device to equipment that copies and analyzes it, has a higher bar. CBP reported 55,318 device searches in FY2025: an 18% jump, and a third straight record year.
Does my status really change what happens?
Sharply. A U.S. citizen cannot be denied entry for declining to unlock a device, though the device can be detained and travel delayed. A lawful permanent resident generally cannot be turned away for declining alone, but can face detention and scrutiny. A visa or ESTA holder can be denied entry for declining, because admission is a privilege and not a right. The assessment tailors your pack-down and your lane note to which of the three you are.
Do you see my answers?
No. The assessment runs entirely in your browser. Nothing about your answers is sent to a server or stored anywhere. The only thing that ever leaves this page is your email, and only when you choose to submit the form on your plan.
Why not just use the free EFF guide?
You should read it. The EFF's border-privacy guide is excellent, and we link it. It is also generic: one long document that treats a citizen attorney and a visa-holding tourist the same, and it stops at the border. PackLight personalizes by your status, profession and devices so the plan is short and actually yours, and it makes the whole thing reversible with a guided post-crossing restore checklist. If the free guide covers you, use it with our blessing.
What do I get for $39?
The full kit: your complete status-specific pack-down step by step, the lane notes for the checkpoint, and the guided post-crossing restore walkthrough. $39 is the founding price, locked before launch. The assessment, the item count and the packing plan on this page are free and need no email.
PackLight is lawful data minimization: you choose what to carry before you fly, and you restore it after you cross. It is not a way to conceal anything from an officer, it is not a script for what to say at a checkpoint, and it is not legal advice. Answer every question truthfully. Never misrepresent your device or its contents. PackLight is not affiliated with CBP or any government agency. Sources: EFF, ACLU. Current as of July 2026.
You will not remember any of this at the gate.
So take the stub. Lay out your devices, press PACK LIGHT, LAWFULLY, and the four lines you actually need tear off the bottom of your plan: printable, wallet-sized, in your passport.
Build my packing plan · 2 minPre-flight stub
- 1Archive to a secure cloud account, then lighten the device.
- 2Power the device off before the checkpoint.
- 3Alphanumeric passcode over biometrics for the crossing.
- 4Restore after you cross. Answer every question truthfully.