ACLU Sues Homeland Security Over Laptop Searches
By Chloe Albanesius | PCMag.com
The American Civil Liberties Union on Wednesday sued the Department of Homeland Security in an effort to uncover documents related to laptop searches at the border.
"The ACLU believes that suspicionless searches of laptops violate the First and Fourth Amendments," the group wrote in the suit, filed in a New York District Court.
In July 2008, the Customs and Border Protection agency within DHS published formal guidelines for laptop border searches that gave CBP officials permission to search laptops and electronic devices at the border. Court cases on the topic have generally found that citizens should have diminished expectations of privacy when re-entering the country because the U.S. has a right to protect itself and control what crosses its borders.
Critics of the policy claim that laptop searches are an invasion of privacy – a personal computer holds a lot more information than a suitcase full of clothes or briefcase full of paperwork. What's to stop CBP from copying the contents of your computer and keeping it on file indefinitely, they have argued
As a result, the ACLU wants to know exactly what types of data the government has collected. The organization first filed a Freedom of Information request in June 2009, but after some back and forth between the ACLU and DHS, the ACLU said that it had "exhausted the applicable administrative remedies" and that "DHS and its components have wrongfully withheld the requested records from the ACLU."
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I joined the ACLU...
But then I found out they were for affirmitive action. :/
But this makes me happy, this is why I joined the union.
This isn't just a border
This isn't just a border thing, as far as I know. Sometime last year there was news about how the TSA can search, copy hard drives and even temporarily confiscate laptop computers. I remember reading a few articles about that and how the TSA officers forced people to give over their passwords (give up the password or no flight), log on to email, open up documents, etc, etc. In a few reports people had said they would get their laptops back in a few weeks but many months had passed without their equipment being returned. From what I remember, this was not just for international flights but also for domestic. I recall some companies advising their employees to no longer store important sensitive data on laptops that they are traveling with, etc.
...
Didn't know they did that
seems a little odd, you can't smuggle digital drugs. Good for the ACLU.
DHS was at my apartment complex today, a few buildings down. As I walked by I thought
"Why do I have to go on the Daily Paul"
Financial
Theyre looking for fianancial infomation..
That's really scary
I figured, still pretty damn scary. You mean on the computers at the border, not the DHS at my apartment, right? JK
Now if they would only sue
Now if they would only sue for people to be able to take firearms on board. (Snort.)