Wednesday, June 10, 2009

ACLU Wants Laptop Search Details

Privacy watchdogs have long questioned whether U.S. Customs and Border Protection policies permit agents to search laptops and other electronic devices of travelers without suspicion of wrongdoing and now the American Civil Liberties Union is trying to find solid answers. On Wednesday, the group filed a Freedom of Information Act with CBP, a component of the Department of Homeland Security, to learn how the agency's search policy, first made public in July 2008, is impacting international travelers' constitutional rights. According to the ACLU's request, giving the government unchecked authority to search travelers' personal documents and devices is a violation of Fourth Amendment privacy rights and the First Amendment freedoms of speech, inquiry and association.

The ACLU FOIA request seeks records related to: CBP's authority to search, review, retain and disseminate information possessed by individuals who are encountered by CBP at the border; the number of documents or electronic devices retained by CBP; the length of retention, reasons for retention and the ultimate disposition of retained material; and the dissemination of documents or electronic devices throughout DHS, other agencies, or to entities outside government. The FOIA also asks for complaints filed by individuals or organizations affected by CBP's search policies; statistics reflecting the number of travelers subject to suspicionless searches; and statistics reflecting the race, ethnicity, country of origin, citizenship and gender of individuals subjected to suspicionless searches.

DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano announced in January that she was reviewing a range of immigration and border security policies and in May said clarification is needed with respect to the laptop issue. She said a team at DHS will "issue pretty firm guidance and protocol for how you conduct a laptop search," but noted that in the course of the few laptop searches that actually have been done, agents have found significant criminal activity. "We are a global society, people going from country to country all the time, they're crossing the border, they need to take their laptops to do business, we need to have a better policy that takes into account some of those IP concerns, some of the privacy concerns. That's what we're drafting now," Napolitano said.