Clarity Sought on Electronics Searches
Ellen Nakashima, Washington Post
The Washington Post reported on EFF's partnership with the Asian Law Caucus to bring a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit that will force the government to disclose its policies and procedures on border searches, including which rules govern the seizing, copying, storage and distribution information on electronic devices such as laptops.
Nabila Mango, a therapist and a U.S. citizen who has lived in the country since 1965, had just flown in from Jordan last December when, she said, she was detained at customs and her cellphone was taken from her purse. Her daughter, waiting outside San Francisco International Airport, tried repeatedly to call her during the hour and a half she was questioned. But after her phone was returned, Mango saw that records of her daughter's calls had been erased.
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Today, the Electronic Frontier Foundation and Asian Law Caucus, two civil liberties groups in San Francisco, plan to file a lawsuit to force the government to disclose its policies on border searches, including which rules govern the seizing and copying of the contents of electronic devices. They also want to know the boundaries for asking travelers about their political views, religious practices and other activities potentially protected by the First Amendment. The question of whether border agents have a right to search electronic devices at all without suspicion of a crime is already under review in the federal courts.
Related Issues: FOIA Litigation for Accountable Government
Related Cases: FOIA Litigation: Border Searches
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