Computer seizures at border are lawful
Bill Hogan was returning home to the United States from Germany in February when a customs agent at Dulles International Airport pulled him aside. He could re-enter the country, she told him. But his laptop could not.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents said he had been chosen for “random inspection of electronic media,” and kept his computer for about two weeks, recalled Hogan, 55, a freelance journalist from Falls Church, Va.
Fortunately, it was a spare computer that had little important information. But Hogan felt violated.
“It’s not an inspection. It’s a seizure,” he said. “What do they do with it? I assume they just copy everything.”
For several years, U.S. officials have been searching and seizing laptops, digital cameras, cell phones and other electronic devices at the border with few publicly released details. Complaints from travelers and privacy advocates have spurred some lawmakers to fight the U.S. Customs and Border Protection policy.
“Customs agents must have the ability to conduct even highly intrusive searches when there is reason to suspect criminal or terrorist activity, but suspicion-less searches of Americans’ laptops and similar devices go too far,” said Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Wis., who chairs a subcommittee that examined the searches at a hearing Wednesday.
Courts consistently have ruled that there’s no need for warrants or suspicions when a person is seeking to enter the country — agents can search belongings, including computer gear, for any reason.
The latest was the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, which in April ruled that agents had acted properly when turning over information used to charge a traveler with possession of child pornography. His laptop had been searched in 2005 at Los Angeles International Airport.
The issue is of particular concern for businesses, which risk the loss of proprietary data when executives travel abroad, said Susan K. Gurley, executive director of the Association of Corporate Travel Executives. After the California court ruling, the group warned its members to limit the business and personal information they carry on laptops taken out of the country.
From: www.delawareonline.com