DIGITAL LIFE

U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials charged with unauthorized searches of travelers' gadgets at the U.S. border

U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials “regularly carry out unauthorized searches for American gadgets,” in some cases downloading text messages, photos, call logs, and other information from devices and uploading it to the agency’s central database. , where they are stored for 15 years and available to 2700 authorized representatives of US authorities. This fact was discovered by US Senator Ron Wyden, who sent a letter (PDF) to the department calling for an end to such activities, calling it “a blatant violation of the rights of Americans”.

The United States has the Fourth Amendment to the Constitution, which prohibits unreasonable searches and arrests in the country, and also requires that warrants for such actions be issued only by a court and only if there are sufficient grounds. However, according to Wyden, border guards are abusing the exception to that rule, carrying out searches of the contents of phones and laptops that enter the country without any suspicion of committing a crime. At the same time, he added, the exception was introduced only to prevent smuggling and not allow departments to collect personal data from citizens of the United States and other countries.

The practiced “basic screening” procedure simply involves familiarizing an agency employee with text messages and photos on the devices of people entering the country. But if there are “reasonable suspicions” that the person has violated the law or represents a “threat to the national security” of the United States, with the approval of the Chief, the Service employee may proceed with a detailed search, if possible, upload information from the device to a departmental database, the search for which is available to US Department of Homeland Security officials. At the same time, basic and detailed inspection procedures are not maintained, and there is no record of search queries by Ministry officials at the base.

Wyden's letter also refers to a Customs and Border Protection briefing in June, which noted that the database is being updated with photos, text message content, call logs, contact lists and other confidential information with “less than 10,000” devices annually. Border guards, he said, also said that government officials requesting information from the database are not recommended to disclose the purpose of their requests, although this practice is intended to be a guarantee against possible abuse.

The senator alleges that border guards are forcing people to unlock their devices for verification, threatening fines of up to $1,000, lawsuits and bans from entering the country — even US citizens if they refuse to provide passwords. At the same time, as representatives of the Service itself told Mr. Wyden, the agency has never attempted to impose a fine on a traveler for refusing to cooperate, and they have no right to refuse a US citizen entry into the country on that basis.

American human rights activists are also aware of the problem: in 2020, the Electronic Personal Data Protection Center (EPIC) supported a lawsuit aimed at preventing the practice of mindless searches for the content of electronic devices at the border. And last year, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) asked the US Supreme Court to start hearings on the issue of unauthorized screening of gadget content itself. Human rights activists doubt that the situation can change for the better without the intervention of the highest court.

AVnews