Border Searches of Your PC...Are They Legal Under the 4th Amendment, Your Right to Privacy
This entry was posted on 6/21/2007 7:05 PM and is filed under Privacy.
The 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals is likely in an interesting quandary given the recent decision of the 6th US Circuit Court of Appeals decision regarding eMail privacy which has concluded that it is protected under the 4th Amendment. Clearly past precedent has been set relative to inspections at border crossings which would appear to permit them to continue without limitation, more commonly referred to as border searches. However, such precedent has never been heretofore presented with the issue of notebook computers containing information that is protected under the 4th Amendment.
The question, before the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, arose from the prosecution of Michael Timothy Arnold, an American citizen whose laptop was randomly searched in July 2005 at Los Angeles International Airport as he returned from a three-week trip to the Philippines. Agents booted the computer and began opening folders on the desktop, where they found a picture of two naked women, continued searching, then turned up what the government says is child pornography. See "What's in a Laptop? Court Ponders Legality of Border Searches" for additional detail.
Just what is the 9th Us Circuit Court of Appeals likely to do? Your guess is as good as mine but I believe that they will limit searches of notebook computers carried by U.S. Citizens. No matter what they do, the party to this case has some serious problems as what was identified as child pornography was found during the border search.
To me, examination of my notebook computer during a border crossing beyond verifying that it is not a weapon, as in a bomb, is the limit after which I find it an invasion of my privacy. Regardless of what the decision may be I know what I will be doing in the future when planning to traverse a border with my notebook — All eMail files, personal and business data will be encrypted. Keep in mind that while the U.S. may protect a U.S. citizen re-entering the U.S., you are subject to the rules of the country that you are going to as well and with the cooperation between countries under anti-terrorism I can see the very strong possibility of U.S. citizens carrying a notebook into a foreign country coming under stronger scrutiny, very possibly as the result of encouragement by the U.S.
Your best bet...carry a clean notebook, use web mail and web applications while traveling internationally.
