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We Got U.S. Border Officials to Testify Under Oath. Here’s What We Found Out

eff.org

94 pointsDiabloD310 comments

> The policies even allow officers to consider requests from other government agencies to search specific travelers’ devices.

> CBP and ICE also say they can search a traveler’s electronic devices to find information about someone else.

> Both agencies allow officers to retain information from travelers’ electronic devices and share it with other government entities, including state, local, and foreign law enforcement agencies.

This is insane.

Having never been searched, how does this work? You hand them your shutdown or locked laptop and they look at it from the outside? Or you are forced to login and they click around the device?

Or do they have some special hardware that tries to access things through USB or thunderbolt or similar?

Either way I think it's time allies (e.g. Europe) start questioning the surveillance practices. The US constitution is written for a very free and well thought out country, but the reality is moving away from that.

I imagine they start with asking you to login to your device so they can search it. If you refuse be prepared for a long stay and possible confiscation of your devices.

I travel with a simple piece of paper that has phone numbers written on it of people I can call if this ever happens to me. If I am stopped and someone and they want to search my phone, I want to be able to call someone without being forced to unlock my phone.

Here’s the question we have to be asking: if the government is going to claim that it has the power to do things like this, what is the check on that power? In what sense can the public consent to the government having these powers if they are kept secret? if the public cannot consent, then who did?

It seems that the legal system and organizations like eff are what we’ve got at the moment. But that only works to the extent that courts are willing to hear those cases, which nobody can force them to do, especially if the courts become packed with far right activists.

What happens if you just play stupid and pretend to have "forgotten" your password?

If I felt I was going to be in a position where this was going to happen I'd be more than okay entering 10 incorrect codes on my iPhone to wipe it...

Also curious what happens if you have confidential info or info from a work computer that you legally cannot show anyone else?

I would guess in the first case, they confiscate your stuff and detain you, and in the second case, they dont give a fuck

They might be able to make a case for searching the devices of foreign nationals, though I would be opposed to that too. But how can they justify warrant-less searches of Americans? Do they think we are smuggling drugs in there?

Imagine the software and infrastructure required to coordinate these requests. If I am a local LEO do I just log into a web app, enter the social of the person I want to stalk, the get notified when the happen to be searched?

Is there a study about the effectiveness of the search of electronic devices?

Probably the same effectiveness the TSA has catching terrorists.

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