Legislation introduced to rein in warrantless cellphone seizures at U.S. border crossings

washingtontimes ^ | Andrew Blake

[davikkm]

Bipartisan legislation introduced Tuesday in the House and Senate would address a recent uptick in cellphones being searched at the border by requiring Customs agents to obtain a warrant before scouring the digital devices of Americans attempting to reenter the country. Currently U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents can ask individuals to surrender their cellphones to be scrutinized at or near the nation’s border absent a warrant, seemingly skirting the Fourth Amendment’s protection against unlawful searches and seizures. The Protecting Data at the Border Act would take aim at the constitutional concerns raised for years by existing policy and require Customs agents to get an actual court order before requesting access to an American’s cellphone, in addition to ensuring individuals are properly notified of their legal rights before being asked to disclose any personal information involving their online identities, including usernames and passwords, the bill’s authors said. “Americans’ Constitutional rights shouldn’t disappear at the border,” co-author Sen. Ron Wyden, Oregon Democrat, said in statement. “By requiring a warrant to search Americans’ devices and prohibiting unreasonable delay, this bill makes sure that border agents are focused on criminals and terrorists instead of wasting their time thumbing through innocent Americans’ personal photos and other data.”

[Reno89519]

About time. Don’t touch an American or our property without a search warrant.

[Arthur McGowan]

“Currently U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents can ask individuals to surrender their cellphones to be scrutinized at or near the nation’s border absent a warrant, seemingly skirting the Fourth Amendment’s protection against unlawful searches and seizures.”

The 4th amendment does not prohibit “unlawful” searches and seizures. It prohibits UNREASONABLE searches and seizures. Reporters rarely quote it correctly.

[Arthur McGowan]

“Currently U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents can ask individuals to surrender their cellphones to be scrutinized at or near the nation’s border absent a warrant, seemingly skirting the Fourth Amendment’s protection against unlawful searches and seizures.”

The 4th amendment does not prohibit “unlawful” searches and seizures. It prohibits UNREASONABLE searches and seizures. Reporters rarely quote it correctly.

[A CA Guy]

Can they go through someone’s who is not American at the border?

[Arthur McGowan]

The 4th amendment does not prohibit searches without a warrant. It prohibits unreasonable searches and seizures.

[VanShuyten]

So, the next time you drive back from Mexico, you’re going to refuse Customs from searching your car?

[Lurking Libertarian]

Can they go through someone’s who is not American at the border?

Now, they can go through anyone's cellphone. If the bill is passed, they will need a warrant for U.S. citizens but not for aliens.

[Reno89519]

Searching my car is a bit different and rifling through my iPhone, iPad, or laptop. For the latter, I think it is very appropriate for them to get a specific search warrant.

Now, for non-citizens, yes, search away.

[A CA Guy]

Thanks.

[hanamizu]

I am not a lawyer, so take this with as many grains of salt as you wish. I remember reading that the concept of customs precedes the Constitution and the Bill of Rights and therefore the 4th Amendment does not apply. If you have ever crossed the border, you know that customs agents do not need “probable cause” or a warrant to go through you suitcase or disassemble your car. They can look anywhere and everywhere, your citizenship is not a factor. I don’t know if they can require you to give up the password/code to your phone, but I am sure they can seize it if they want.

I once knew of a young woman who was bringing over leather purses from Juarez to El Paso (she was bringing them in to sell = smuggling them). So she gets stopped and hassled and her load of purses was seized. After she was released, she drove off and stupidly flipped the bird to the agents. A couple of days later they showed up at her doorstep and seized her car since it was a part of a smuggling crime. The moral of the story is don’t get cute with customs agents. They have a lot more legal power than you might imagine.