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Historically, I'm unaware of any country where you're entitled to require a court order before they can inspect your belongings when passing through a customs i
by gsnedders 8y ago
Historically, I'm unaware of any country where you're entitled to require a court order before they can inspect your belongings when passing through a customs inspection at the border (and almost everywhere they don't need any suspicion of wrongdoing—they could, if they wanted, go through every paper everyone carried in, with the more or less sole limit of diplomatic bags).
- JumpCrisscross 8y ago> I'm unaware of any country where you're entitled to require a court order before they can inspect your belongings when passing through a customs inspection I agree, but I think historical precedent with books and papers is different from our phones. Note that my process still defaults to allowing the agent a casual search. The traveller simply has the right to call foul and require the agent to produce their reasons in front of a judge.
- daemin 8y agoThe key difference between searching someones suitcase and their phone is that people don't generally carry their medical and financial records in paper form when they travel.
- hugh-avherald 8y agoMedical and financial records have always been legitimate things to search by customs. You may in fact be denied entry if you don't have them in paper form, in some cases.
- daemin 8y agoTo some extent yes - I have experienced the financial side of this - but those are generally just statements to prove you have enough money to stay in the country until you leave. Just the same with medical records stating that you don't have an infectious disease. It doesn't include your entire history of financial transactions and investments, nor does it include a history of all operations and procedures that you had done.