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from the sudden-outbreak-of-common-sense? dept.
The US Customs and Border Protection agency has updated its guidelines for electronic border searches, clarifying what remain broad and potentially invasive procedures. The directive was published today [ January 5, 2018], and it adds new detail to border search rules that were last officially updated in 2009.
Officers can still request that people unlock electronic devices for inspection when they're entering the US, and they can still look through any files or apps on those devices. But consistent with a statement from acting commissioner Kevin McAleenan last summer, they're explicitly banned from accessing cloud data — per these guidelines, that means anything that can't be accessed while the phone's data connection is disabled.
The guidelines also draw a distinction between "basic" and "advanced" searches. If officers connect to the phone (through a wired or wireless connection) and copy or analyze anything on it using external devices, that's an advanced search, and it can only be carried out with reasonable suspicion of illegal activity or a national security concern. A supervisor can approve the search, and "many factors" might create reasonable suspicion, including a terrorist watchlist flag or "other articulable factors."
(Score: 2) by NewNic on Monday January 08 2018, @07:40PM (5 children)
Just don't have brown skin or be an unemployed single male under the age of 30.
lib·er·tar·i·an·ism ˌlibərˈterēənizəm/ noun: Magical thinking that useful idiots mistake for serious political theory
(Score: 4, Interesting) by bob_super on Monday January 08 2018, @07:54PM (4 children)
Our Australian middle-aged white overweight sales/support guy just spent 6 hours with DHS, and left his laptop and work USB sticks with them, because they didn't seem able to copy the data quickly (linux/Apple somehow confuses them).
Unless he's got something in his past he's not telling us, I question the idea that some random Melbourne guy coming to his startup's headquarters is that suspicious ...
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday January 08 2018, @08:27PM
Loves me some land o' the free. I feel so free I might just jump off a bridge! /sarc for anyone who would legitimately worry
(Score: 2) by NewNic on Monday January 08 2018, @08:41PM (2 children)
Either:
1. He is mistakenly on a list somewhere. We know the DHS makes mistakes such as this and will never admit (or even correct) them, or
2. He has some history that he hasn't told you about. Perhaps he was a radical and picked up an arrest or two in his youth.
lib·er·tar·i·an·ism ˌlibərˈterēənizəm/ noun: Magical thinking that useful idiots mistake for serious political theory
(Score: 2) by bob_super on Monday January 08 2018, @09:03PM
I suspect he's a member of the communist party who committed genocide and is now a terrorist coming to the country to overthrow the US government after escaping a conviction by fleeing the country, leaving his children's alimony unpaid ...
I used to have that stupid form taped on my cube wall. People though it was a fake.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 09 2018, @09:36AM
Or they didn't appreciate his facial expression... The CBP works in mysterious ways.