Judge: Warrantless Airport Seizure of Laptop 'Cannot Be Justified'

SonicSpike writes with news of a ruling in U.S. District Court that the seizure and search of a man's laptop without a warrant while he was in an airport during an international border crossing was not justified. According to Judge Amy Jackson's ruling (PDF), the defendant was already the subject of an investigation when officials used his international flight as a pretext for rifling through his laptop. The government argued that a laptop was simply a "container," and thus subject to warrantless searches to protect the homeland. But the judge said the search "was supported by so little suspicion of ongoing or imminent criminal activity, and was so invasive of Kim's privacy and so disconnected from not only the considerations underlying the breadth of the government's authority to search at the border, but also the border itself, that it was unreasonable."

She also noted that laptop searches may require more stringent legal support, since they are capable of holding much more private information than a box or duffel bag. And while a routine search involves a quick look through a container, this search was quite different: "[T]he agents created an identical image of Kim's entire computer hard drive and gave themselves unlimited time to search the tens of thousands of documents, images, and emails it contained, using an extensive list of search terms, and with the assistance of two forensic software programs that organized, expedited, and facilitated the task."

Comments

Violators.

[AnotherBlackHat]

... agents created an identical image of Kim's entire computer hard drive ...

So in addition to conducting an illegal search, they also violated several copyrights.

Re:More hoops before travelling through USA

[TheGratefulNet]

no, you miss the point. travel 'empty'. a plain fresh install with no URL history or anything on it. ie, you do a fresh build, you create a backup (that's your new image for any new travel) and you travel with a fresh install of linux (ideally not windows) and you remember, in your head, your passwords and key URLs.

its very sad that its gotton to this. but this is probably the best way to protect yourself and arrive in one piece, unmolested.

sadly, very few can even do this much. or are willing to do this before they travel.

I don't believe encrypting a full disk is going to help you and may cause you to be detained (unfairly, but you are not in control, here, realize that). encryption keeps so-called bad guys out, but the real ones to worry about are 'your own people' (so to speak). they won't take no for an answer.

better to travel with a blank install and keep all your login and history info in your head.

Re:More hoops before travelling through USA

[TWX]

It might not be a bad idea to take the computer to a few coffee shops to use their wifi to surf CNN and the BBC and other news websites first, or to at least do this in the originating airport on their wireless to demonstrate that the computer sees casual use. Make it too blank and there's new grounds for suspicion and again, they'll duplicate the disk and attempt to find any deleted files.

Burners

[Lilith's Heart-shape]

This is why I never fly with my primary computer, but with a burner laptop - usually a Chromebook that has just been reset to factory defaults and hasn't even been reconnected to Google yet.

this exactly.

[nimbius]

The American Civil Liberties Union has long maintained that the authorities invoke the border exception rule to the warrant requirement to build cases when they don't have probable cause to get a warrant.

shocking enough, the border rule works up to 200 miles inland. People often forget law enforcement agents are not your friends, and generally do not have your best interest in mind. they can and do lie, falsify evidence, and purjor themselves on witness stands. They will rifle through suitcases and backpacks without a warrant, in the hopes you forget about that right. They will strike, kick, and even kill you for attempting to exercise rights or hold them accountable. Prosecutors and DA's offices care more about a successful conviction than a fair one, and so will often target a suspect with a litany of flimsy charges and lengthy jail time. The hope is that you accept a plea-bargain, convict yourself, and save everyone the discomfort of learning how many of these charges will not stand up in court.

Re:Backwards much?

[gstoddart]

But, honestly, with the bullshit "we can do a border search at an airport and within 100 miles of the border", they probably figured they didn't need to.

They've already been told they have search powers that are effectively unconstitutional, but some how magically legal.

Which means they felt they could bypass the law by doing the search in an airport, and then using that as grounds for a warrant.

Evidence that, once again, law enforcement is taking advantage of all of the stupid rules which allow them to bypass the law.

As much as the judge shut them down, you can bet your ass this was a conscious strategy and not a mistake.

Been through it

[mnmn]

I was asked to login into my phone emails and facebook on the laptop flying back to Miami from Bahamas in my private plane.

4 officers took over an hour going over all pictures in my camera, emails going way way back, friends posts on facebook and facebook messages some over a year old.

I gave them all access immediately, but then asked about this process and they gave me a CBSA leaflet that explained if I denied them access they will confiscate the device, copy the contents and ship it back to me.

I got to keep my electronics because I gave them immediate access even though it cost me long distance data plans there.

Being a Canadian citizen, I dont think I have any teeth to complain to anyone but our own politicians here. And all they can do is make life miserable for US citizens entering Canada in retaliation.

I'm just so glad I havent cracked any stupid jokes regarding violence, drugs or terrorism in the last 1-2 years in any facebook messages or comments.