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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, 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!