The Border Is a Back Door for U.S. Device Searches

[Demeter]

This discussion thread was locked as off-topic by Lasher (a host of the Latest Breaking News forum).

Source: NYTimes

...Newly released documents reveal how the government uses border crossings to seize and examine travelers’ electronic devices instead of obtaining a search warrant to gain access to the data...Customs and Border Protection, part of the Department of Homeland Security, said that it conducted electronic media searches on 4,957 people from Oct. 1, 2012, through Aug. 31, 2013, or about 15 a day, which is similar to the average during the previous two years. About 930,000 people are screened daily by border agents. But for those pulled aside for a secondary inspection (about 35,000 travelers a day), the experience can be distressing, resulting in a missed connecting flight, a prolonged interrogation, and in Mr. House’s case, the loss of a laptop necessary for his livelihood.

“I was worried about losing my job, and not being able to pay my rent, and what I was going to tell my parents,” said Mr. House, 26, who was working as a computer programmer at the time. He was also concerned about the government getting access to names stored on his laptop of individuals who had donated money to Private Manning’s legal defense. Private Manning was sentenced by a military judge last month to 35 years in prison for providing more than 700,000 government files to WikiLeaks.

Mr. House’s lawsuit was among a handful of cases challenging the government’s authority to search devices at the border. Pascal Abidor, a graduate student in Islamic studies, sued the government after he was detained and his laptop was seized during an Amtrak trip from Montreal to New York in 2010. A decision in that case is expected soon, according to the case manager for Judge Edward R. Korman, who is writing the opinion for the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York. Mr. Abidor is also being represented by Ms. Crump of the A.C.L.U...As part of the settlement, the government agreed to destroy all copies of the data taken from Mr. House, and update his file so he will not automatically be detained when he returns to the United States after traveling abroad, which has happened repeatedly since 2010.

For now, the law remains murky about any limits on intrusive border inspections, including how long travelers can be detained, whether they are required to provide passwords for their devices — Mr. House refused — and whether they must answer any question an agent asks. Responses may be recorded in a traveler’s TECS file and shared with other government agencies.


Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/10/business/the-border-is-a-back-door-for-us-device-searches.html

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“Americans crossing the border are being searched and their digital media is being seized in the hopes that the government will find something to have them convicted,” Mr. House said. “I think it’s important for business travelers and people who consider themselves politically inclined to know what dangers they now face in a country where they have no real guarantee of privacy at the border.”

Or anywhere else, for that matter...

[msanthrope]

1. There never was privacy at the border. I'm really puzzled why people think why a search

warrant is necessary at the border. It's never been necessary. Heck...Customs law predates the Bill of Rights.

[Xipe Totec]

2. I guess the United States District Court thinks the lawsuit has merit, despite your erudite opinion.

[msanthrope]

3. Um, no. House's case no longer exists, and Cotterman still doesn't require a warrant. As for

the opinion from Judge Korman, it's going to be far more conservative than Cotterman. The warrant exception will be intact.

[Lasher]

4. Locking...

We see this as background/analysis. It's interesting though, and I hope you'll consider posting in Good Reads or GD