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DHS Asserting Unconstitutional Authority to Search Travelers’ Phones and Laptops
- benmarks 8y agoReminder to fellow travelers: disable biometric-based device access when crossing the US border. It may not prevent your stuff from being cloned, but it may matter down the road as more case law is established.
- r00fus 8y agoI routinely shut down all my electronics before any checkpoint and ensure passcode is enabled.
- deleted 8y ago[deleted]
- pardner 8y agoIf I use an electronic boarding pass, I temporarily make that my wallpaper so it is usable at the gate without unlocking my phone.
- klyrs 8y agoStealing this
- sneak 8y agoOr just print a paper one when you arrive at the airport. You can check in online in app, and still reprint at a kiosk on arrival. The idea of handing my phone to an agent of the government without physical compulsion is abhorrent to me, and is something I hope to never engage in. For this reason, mobile boarding passes are a non-starter. (see also: wireless keyboards)
- JohnFen 8y agoYears ago, when this sort of thing started to become common, I decided I couldn't afford the risk involved in having important electronics subjected to this sort of search. By "risk", I don't really mean disclosure of data (although that, too), but the risk of having the device seized or damaged. My solution was to stop carrying these devices when I travel. I ship them ahead to my destination through a parcel service, and carry a burner phone (for emergencies) during my actual trip.
- cpeterso 8y agoOr take a burner device that you can sync down your data on the other side of the border.
- JohnFen 8y agoYes, that's another viable method. I don't do that myself because I don't use the cloud. (And the burner I use is never a smartphone -- I tend to pick up one of the $10 ones)
- newnewpdro 8y ago> I don't do that myself because I don't use the cloud. What does that even mean? You don't use the internet? Surely you have an internet connection, and you could make your device accessible through the internet somehow for accessing your data. It doesn't require "the cloud" in the sense that you keep your data resident in "the cloud" on third-party servers... Punch a hole in your home internet firewall, or terminate a reverse ssh tunnel on some super cheap VPS provider to access your data from home.
- JohnFen 8y agoIt means that I don't use sync services and so forth. I certainly run fileservers of my own that I can access through the internet, but that's not what people mean by "the cloud", and very probably isn't what the comment I was replying to was talking about, as he specifically mentioned syncing the data to the device. But I may have misunderstood. Nonetheless, I don't do that anyway because I don't take a device that can make use of that data. I only take a very basic feature phone.
- rayiner 8y agoWhether this is "unconstitutional" is, of course, a hotly contested legal issue. While EFF asserts that the "border is not a lawless place" the fact is that border searches are where personal property rights and the right of a sovereign to police its borders intersect, and the former has historically given way to the latter. One of the very first things Congress did in 1789 was create customs enforcement, empowered to conduct warrantless searches for contraband or dutiable goods. What the EFF's motion for summary judgment actually does is ask the court to extend Riley. There, the Supreme Court held that a search of electronic data on a phone was a fourth amendment violation, even where a search was otherwise permissible without a warrant because it was a search incident to arrest. The idea was that an electronic search did not serve the purposes of a search incident to arrest, which focuses more on ensuring officer safety. A more honest reporting of the article therefore would be "EFF asks court to extend the reasoning of the Supreme Court's recent decision in Riley to hold that the Fourth Amendment protects travelers from searches of electronic data on phones and laptops when such searches are not reasonably related to the purposes of finding contraband and dutiable goods." But that wouldn't bring in all the donor dollars! I think the EFF actually has a good argument. Possibly the correct argument, at least taking Riley as a given. But man do I hate the press release. (Of course, the EFF's legal filing omits the crap.)
- jdsully 8y agoAlthough stored data can be contraband and the court may not see it as different from a drug search. I think it’s unlikely we’ll see this succeed but I’m hopeful.
- supernova87a 8y agoI think the course of this is that much like the border separation policy, they want the circuits to disagree on the interpretation, and the Supreme Court to get involved. Of course, "someone" could pass a law to clarify the issue.
- zensavona 8y agoI am an Australian national who lives overseas and recently I was going through the airport going into Australia to visit. Turns out we have something similar going on, but backed by law and without constitutional protection. I was told to hand over the passwords for my laptop and phone, lest they seize them "until they can be opened" (see: forever). This was a mind-bending experience for me and I was further interrogated since apparently I must have "something to hide" if I don't want to hand over passwords to my devices to just any person who works in an airport. They even started asking me things like "What are you doing in Australia?", "Who are you visiting?", "Where are you going?" (I am a citizen, it's absolutely no business of "Border Force" who I visit or where I go) and when I was abrasive about those questions they even asked "Have you been in trouble with the law in Australia?" At the end I did ask what the reason was for them searching me, their answer was simply that they don't need to have suspicion of anything specific.
- RyJones 8y agoIf you want extra attention all over the world, keep your clothes in Pelican cases. Customs always thinks I'm bringing something in - just my clothes, thanks, take a look.
- m463 8y agoI imagine they don't x-ray well. Also, you probably get all kinds of attention from theives - they would expect camera equipment, not clothes. Of course, it would all lead to memorable international travel experiences!