Weekly Edition
Return to the Announcements page
| ||||||||||||||||
|
| ||||||||||||||||
EFF: Judges Urged to Curtail Random Searches of Travelers' Laptops
Electronic Frontier Foundation Media Release For Immediate Release: Thursday, June 12, 2008 Contact: Lee Tien Senior Staff Attorney Electronic Frontier Foundation tien@eff.org +1 415 436-9333 x102 (office), +1 510 501-8755 (cell) Susan Gurley Executive Director Association of Corporate Travel Executives susan@acte.org +1 703 683-5322 x204 Judges Urged to Curtail Random Searches of Travelers' Laptops EFF Asks for Review of Flawed Appeals Court Ruling San Francisco - The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and the Association of Corporate Travel Executives (ACTE) urged an appeals court today to review a flawed decision allowing random and invasive searches of travelers' computers at the U.S. border. The news media has reported extensively on these searches as well as the surprise and anger felt by American travelers when they are singled out for inspection. In a typical search, U.S. border officials will turn on the computer and then open and review files. If agents see something of interest, they may confiscate the computer, copy its contents, and sometimes provide a copy to the Department of Justice -- even when the traveler is not suspected of criminal activity. In some cases, travelers have never gotten their computers back from the government. In an amicus brief filed today, EFF and ACTE asked the full 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to rehear and reverse an appeals panel decision in United States v. Arnold, which upheld this blanket search and seizure power. While the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that customs and border agents can perform "routine" searches at the border without a warrant or even reasonable suspicion, these ongoing baseless searches of electronic devices at America's borders are unconstitutionally invasive. "Searching a laptop is very different from searching a briefcase. Your computer contains a vast amount of information about your private life, including details about your family, your finances, and your health," said EFF Senior Staff Attorney Lee Tien. "All that information can be easily copied, transferred, and stored in government databases, just because you were chosen for a random inspection." These suspicionless laptop searches and data seizures violate the Fourth Amendment's prohibition against unreasonable search and seizure. The unique nature of electronic information stored on computers and other portable devices requires the courts to recognize a standard that protects the privacy of Americans in the Information Age. "The implications of unfettered data collection are staggering," said ACTE Executive Director Susan Gurley. "Border authorities may now systematically collect all information on every laptop computer, BlackBerry, or other device carried across our border. The government can then store and search all that data without any justification or oversight by any court. This simply does not square with the Fourth Amendment." The EFF-ACTE amicus brief was prepared by Arent Fox LLP. For the full amicus brief: http://www.eff.org/files/filenode/US_v_arnold/amicusjune0... For more on US v. Arnold: http://www.eff.org/cases/us-v-arnold For this release: http://www.eff.org/press/archives/2008/06/12 About EFF The Electronic Frontier Foundation is the leading civil liberties organization working to protect rights in the digital world. Founded in 1990, EFF actively encourages and challenges industry and government to support free expression and privacy online. EFF is a member-supported organization and maintains one of the most linked-to websites in the world at http://www.eff.org/ -end- _______________________________________________ presslist mailing list https://falcon.eff.org/mailman/listinfo/presslist (Log in to post comments)
EFF: Judges Urged to Curtail Random Searches of Travelers' Laptops Posted Jun 19, 2008 5:21 UTC (Thu) by lmb (subscriber, #39048) [Link] I wonder how likely it is that the court will indeed rule this in disagreement with the US constitution; but of course, the constitution only applies to US citizens, so foreign travelers will still be subject to search ...?
EFF: Judges Urged to Curtail Random Searches of Travelers' Laptops Posted Jun 19, 2008 17:53 UTC (Thu) by pr1268 (subscriber, #24648) [Link] The current administration seems to be pushing the boundaries of what is "Constitutionally acceptable". Interpret that as you may. To answer your question about citizens v. foreign travelers, I perceive that there is/will be a double standard on how the the Constitution is applied--Non-citizens might not enjoy freedoms enumerated in the Bill of Rights, but other parts of the Constitution may be applied as necessary for "national security". Going just slightly off-topic, I'm curious if anyone knows the answer to this: Does the Border Security Patrol/TSA need a search warrant to look at the files on my computer? I'm thinking of how most laptops have a login screen where the user must enter a login name and password. How can these federal agents "force" you to log in? (Yes, I do know that even if you don't log in, they could send your laptop to a forensics lab to extricate the files, etc.)
EFF: Judges Urged to Curtail Random Searches of Travelers' Laptops Posted Jun 19, 2008 19:03 UTC (Thu) by jebba (✭ supporter ✭, #4439) [Link] lmb wrote: "the constitution only applies to US citizens" No, it applies to the US *government*. It restricts them, not the people. If the government is prohibited from doing something by the constitution, they are prohibited from doing it to *anyone* whether they are a citizen or not. Of course, de facto, the US constitution has lost its power to restrain the executive. -Jeff
EFF: Judges Urged to Curtail Random Searches of Travelers' Laptops Posted Jun 19, 2008 11:27 UTC (Thu) by NRArnot (subscriber, #3033) [Link] As far as this potential tourist is concerned, the land of the no-longer free has just added a final reason why I won't be taking any vacations in or via the USA any time soon. Boorish officials, long queues, and mandatory fingerprinting are bad enough, but this is the last straw. In passing, any traveller from Europe needs to be aware that this could put them in legal jeopardy back home, should they have any personal data (concerning anyone other than themselves) on their laptop. Even if it's encrypted (because it's a USA legal requirement to hand over the decryption key if asked). Even if it's deleted, unless you know it was shredded. Because allowing Uncle Sam this uncontrolled access to your computer is *illegal* under our Data Protection legislation. The only legally safe thing is not to take your computer at all.
EFF: Judges Urged to Curtail Random Searches of Travelers' Laptops Posted Jun 19, 2008 19:07 UTC (Thu) by jebba (✭ supporter ✭, #4439) [Link] "Because allowing Uncle Sam this uncontrolled access to your computer is *illegal* under our Data Protection legislation." But if the US government does take your data illegally, European courts are almost certain to do nothing about it. See, for example, this case where the data protection act was clearly violated, various european governments knew about it, and none did anything: http://www.eff.org/cases/indymedia-server-takedown -Jeff
EFF: Judges Urged to Curtail Random Searches of Travelers' Laptops Posted Jun 21, 2008 15:06 UTC (Sat) by dvdeug (subscriber, #10998) [Link] It's not a US legal requirement to hand over the decryption key if asked; that's the UK. To force you to turn over decryption key would require a court order in the US.
|
|
|||||||||||||||