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from the When's-the-last-time-you-crossed-the-border-with-a-half-dozen-filing-cabinets? dept.
It reverses a landmark victory for privacy advocates.
Border Agents Can Search Phones Freely Under New Circuit Court Ruling - The Verge:
A US appeals court has ruled that Customs and Border Protection agents can conduct in-depth searches of phones and laptops, overturning an earlier legal victory for civil liberties groups. First Circuit Judge Sandra Lynch declared that both basic and "advanced" searches, which include reviewing and copying data without a warrant, fall within "permissible constitutional grounds" at the American border.
Lynch ruled against a group of US citizens and residents objecting to invasive searches of their electronic devices.
[...] A district court declared that CBP searches violated the Fourth Amendment by not requiring "reasonable suspicion" that the devices contained contraband. Lynch disagreed. "Electronic device searches do not fit neatly into other categories of property searches, but the bottom line is that basic border searches of electronic devices do not involve an intrusive search of a person," she wrote. That lowers the bar for conducting them at the border, where the government's interest in security is "at its zenith."
Appeals courts have issued conflicting opinions on how electronic devices fall under the "border search exception," a rule allowing warrantless searches that might otherwise be unconstitutional. [...] The exception is primarily intended for finding contraband or unauthorized entrants, but it applies to federal agents working within 100 miles of the US border — an area that covers most metropolitan areas.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by SomeGuy on Friday February 12 2021, @06:44PM (7 children)
Or just don't take a cell phone with you. (Will it eventually be illegal to not have a cell phone?), or just don't keep any data on it at all.
Just for fun, put all your information on floppy disks and see how eager they are to search them :P
Although, that does raise the question, will they want to search every other device you have? Does your car have one of those "smart" media centers built in? What about your internet connected "smart" sex toys that you brought?
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Runaway1956 on Friday February 12 2021, @07:43PM
That really is the best approach. If you need to cross a border, don't carry ANYTHING. You must have valid ID (passport, visa, whatever) on you, you need a bit of money, and that's about all you should carry. After you get away from the border, buy yourself a burner phone, or whatever. Get online, and download whatever data you think necessary, after the authorities have lost interest in you.
Abortion is the number one killed of children in the United States.
(Score: 3, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Friday February 12 2021, @08:03PM (2 children)
Hey, it's not like I WANTED to bring it with me, but if they can figure out how to unlock it for me it sure beats the hell out of the angle grinder option.
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Saturday February 13 2021, @04:40AM (1 child)
No worries. The feds have access to oxy-acetylene cutting torches.
Abortion is the number one killed of children in the United States.
(Score: 2) by Dr Spin on Saturday February 13 2021, @07:13PM
The feds have access to oxy-acetylene cutting torches.
To open sex-toys or phones? (asking for a friend).
Why would I take a phone through the border? I have to get a new sim card anyway - why not just buy
a cheap second hand phone? At least I can blame the dubious content on the previous owner.
Warning: Opening your mouth may invalidate your brain!
(Score: 5, Informative) by MostCynical on Friday February 12 2021, @09:02PM
QR codes to 'check in' to shops and cafes and restaurants (Government app [nsw.gov.au])
Covid vaccination certificate on phones (Australia [thenewdaily.com.au] and India [hindustantimes.com]
Driver's License on phone [coloradosun.com]
yes, a phone is going to be mandatory very soon
No doubt, with location services turned ON - must be made available so the government apps know where you are ("easier to use, for your convenience")
"I guess once you start doubting, there's no end to it." -Batou, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
(Score: 2) by maxwell demon on Saturday February 13 2021, @05:07AM
Unlikely. However eventually you'll not be able to live without one. You technically will still be allowed not to possess one, but you'll basically be unable to do anything. Just like there's no law that forbids having no money at all, but it sure is hard to survive if you don't have any.
The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
(Score: 2) by edIII on Saturday February 13 2021, @09:11PM
I suspect that a good percentage of the people that have to take full bags of sex toys with them, would also have no problems giving a quick demonstration for the CBP.
CBP: Uhhh, I, what?
Sex Toy Enthusiast: I get that a lot. *drops pants*. This is how you use it....
Technically, lunchtime is at any moment. It's just a wave function.