The cancer called the Department of Homeland Security is at it again, eating away at our fundamental rights. As it metastasizes through the Constitution, already bludgeoning due process in theFifth Amendment, it’s now tearing at the Fourth Amendment, which protects against unreasonable search and seizures without probable cause.
A recent federal court decision has upheld the practice by the US Customs officials to search laptops for international travelers arriving at the border, even forcing them to disclose password to unlock the laptop if the official demands it:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/02/06/AR2008020604763.html
The agency that is at the center of this controversy is the US Customs department, which is part of the Department of Homeland Security. On 6/25/08, Jayson Ahern, Deputy Commissioner of US Customs testified before Congress on this activity:
http://www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/newsroom/congressional_test/laptop_searches.xml
As the U.S. Supreme Court has stated, “since the beginning of our Government,” the Executive Branch has enjoyed “plenary authority to conduct routine searches and seizures at the border, without probable cause or a warrant, in order to regulate the collection of duties and to prevent the introduction of contraband into this country.”
Privacy advocacy groups such as the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) is petitioning the government against possible violations of the Fourth Amendment against unreasonable search and seizure:
http://www.eff.org/issues/travel-screening
http://www.eff.org/cases/foia-litigation-border-searches
http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2008/05/protecting-yourself-suspicionless-searches-while-t
http://www.eff.org/cases/us-v-arnold
http://www.eff.org/press/archives/2008/05/01
Quote from the last link:
Your privacy could be at risk even if you don’t travel yourself. Your financial institution, your insurer, and other enterprises hold extensive personal data about you and your family,” said EFF Senior Staff Attorney Lee Tien. “If agents of those groups travel internationally, your information could be exposed to officials at the border or potentially copied and stored in government databases. Americans should know how and why electronic data is seized and kept by the government, and who is able to access it at the border and in the years afterwards.
NOTE: It’s important to point out that the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) does not do laptop searches, only the US Customs department:
http://www.tsa.gov/blog/2008/02/rumor-alert-laptops.html