The EFF has filed a court filing[1] pressing for warrants be required for searches of mobile phones, laptops and other digital devices by federal agents at international airports and U.S. land borders — describing these as “highly intrusive forays into travelers’ private information”.
It’s urging that searches of digital devices should only be possible when a border agent has obtained a signed warrant from a judge.
Such searches are currently allowed under an exception to the Fourth Amendment[2] for routine immigration and customs enforcement. However, the EFF says digital device searches at the U.S. border have more than doubled[3] since the inauguration of President Trump.
It also points out that increasing numbers of people carry such devices when traveling — arguing both factors highlight the need for stronger privacy rights while crossing the U.S. border.
In July[4], the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency also clarified that its policy allowing warrantless border searches is restricted to locally stored data — meaning cloud services cannot be legally searched without a warrant.
However the average device owner still likely holds a lot of data on their devices, from documents, to offline email to smartphone photos and videos.
“Our cell phones and laptops provide access to an unprecedented amount of detailed, private information, often going back many months or years, from emails to our coworkers to photos of our loved ones and lists of our closest contacts. This is light years beyond the minimal information generally contained in other kinds of personal items we might carry in our suitcases,” said EFF staff attorney Sophia Cope, in a statement.
“It’s time for courts and the government to acknowledge that examining the contents of a digital device is...