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A US Muslim woman whose iPhone was taken from her by US Customs and Border Protection (CPB) is suing to have her property returned. But the property in question isn't the phone itself, which was eventually returned, but the data stored on it and retained by CPB. As searches of electronic devices belonging to people entering or returning to the US continue to become more frequent, this case and others are raising important questions about what can and should be searched and retained by the US government.
According to the court documents filed by Rejhane Lazoja and her attorneys, Lazoja was returning to the US from Zurich, Switzerland on February 26th of this year. She was questioned and held by customs officers for some time and then asked to produce any electronic devices she had on hand. The agents confiscated her phone and asked her to unlock it multiple times, but Lazoja refused saying that it had photos of her in "a state of undress without her hijab" as well as sensitive communications with her lawyer. The agents ultimately kept her phone.
After 120 days, Lazoja finally got her phone back but only after involving her attorneys, one of which told Ars Technica that federal authorities had "forensically cracked" her phone and copied what was on it before returning it. But as the court documents note, officials have never given any reasons for why the phone was seized in the first place. "Seizing and searching a cell phone is unlike seizing or searching any other property," the complaint states. "Cell phones are a uniquely intimate and expansive repository of our lives. They do far more than just make calls and send emails; they monitor and log much of our movement, activity and even our thinking in real time."
Source: https://www.engadget.com/2018/08/25/us-customs-lawsuit-copied-iphone-data/
(Score: 0, Disagree) by Anonymous Coward on Friday September 14 2018, @09:22PM (8 children)
Cease to exist at our border, unless you are a citizen returning home ( and even then, your rights are reduced during re-entry ). Don't like it, dont visit. Its not like we magically changed the rules last week or something...
Ya i know ill be modded down for this, but its really no different from any other country trying to protect its borders. Hell, be glad we let you in at all, some wont.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday September 14 2018, @10:51PM (2 children)
The Constitution states no such thing.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday September 14 2018, @11:59PM (1 child)
Constitution only applies to citizens.
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Monday September 17 2018, @01:36PM
God only gave inalienable rights to citizen of the US.
If you eat an entire cake without cutting it, you technically only had one piece.
(Score: 4, Informative) by Phoenix666 on Friday September 14 2018, @11:22PM
Except it's not the border anymore. The CPB has given itself permission to violate our rights 100 miles from all the borders, which comprises the majority of the US population. They've done it since the W. Bush administration, and none since have said so much as a peep.
Washington DC delenda est.
(Score: 2) by PinkyGigglebrain on Saturday September 15 2018, @01:19AM (3 children)
The the US Constitution doesn't contain a clause about only applying to US Citizens. Please correct me if I'm wrong.
"Beware those who would deny you Knowledge, For in their hearts they dream themselves your Master."
(Score: 2) by dry on Saturday September 15 2018, @05:15AM
There's some political stuff such that only applies to citizens. President having to be a naturally born one comes to mind.
(Score: 2) by captain normal on Saturday September 15 2018, @06:24PM
I think the 4th and 5th Amendments to the U.S. Constitution seem to cover this pretty well.
"It is easier to fool someone than it is to convince them that they have been fooled" Mark Twain
(Score: 3, Informative) by captain normal on Saturday September 15 2018, @06:31PM
I need to add to my prior post on this. The 4th and 5th Amendments says "people" and "persons". There is no specification of "citizen".
"It is easier to fool someone than it is to convince them that they have been fooled" Mark Twain