SearchesDHS reasserts right for search and seizure without probable cause
Thousands of times a year people are stopped as they cross into the United States, and their cell phones, tablets, and laptops are taken from them. Their e-mails and photos and other important documents are searched thoroughly without probable cause.
Thousands of times a year people are stopped as they cross into the United States, and their cell phones, tablets, and laptops are taken from them. Their e-mails and photos and other important documents are searched thoroughly without probable cause.
Forbesreports that U.S. federal agencies have given themselves the authority to search and seize at will the electronic devices of anyone crossing into the United States. Earlier this month, DHS released a document reaffirming those rights anywhere along the U.S. border (which DHS defines as 100 miles in from the border – an area twice as long as Rhode Island).
While many people may not know that DHS has this right, this has been going on since 2009. DHS secretary Janet Napolitano then promised an impact assessment within four months, but only recently released the two page document in a press release.
Searching someone’s electronic devices is different than searching a suitcase. Cell phones, tablets, laptops and other electronic devices tend to contain the most personal and intimate details about their owners, but these devices are given almost no legal privacy protection.
Forbesnotes that many businesses have worked their way around this problem by having their private information on a cloud system and having their employees access the system from a laptop. That way nothing is saved on the laptop.
The Fourth Amendment of the Constitution provides citizens with protection against unreasonable searches, when such searches involve houses, papers, and other effects, but it may be time to add electronic data to that list.
That will not be easy, though. Courts are having trouble balancing security with privacy and even if some states and local governments can make decisions on a case-by-case basis, federal legislation could take years.
Ronald Reagan signed sweeping digital privacy protections into law more than twenty-five years ago, but in that era electronic devices consisted of giant computers. These computers did nothing close to what a simple cell phone can do today.
Forbes says that eventually there will be a day when this issue will reach the Supreme Court. Even the high court, though, , has shown the inability to deal with situations involving electronic devices. For now, people will have to be careful about what they store on their electronic devices and in their e-mails when they leave or enter the country.
