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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."
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."
I've never seen where lack of justification ever stopped the government.
“He’s not deformed, he’s just drunk!”
The moral of this story is:
1) The TSA and assorted related three letter agencies don't give a crap about due process or warrants anyways
2) If you're travelling through the USA (into, out of, or stoppover in), either don't bring any electronics at all, or only bring freshly wiped stuff with absolutely no personal data on them. Blob up your personal files into a passworded file somewhere on the 'net that you can download when you get where you're going, and don't carry the URL for it on your person.
... 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.
The government argued that a laptop was simply a "container,"
They x-rayed it and it obviously wasn't full of explosives and it's not a liquid container of 3 ounces (or less) in a "one quart sized, clear plastic bag".
If they can prove that the files on the computer can somehow explode and be an imminent threat to the flight he was on, I might agree with the TSA. Otherwise I hope this judges decision is upheld. It would be a nice baby step toward having our constitutional rights restored.
What troubles me most is the mindset that allows this kind of bullshit to occur regularly- - and I can only assume it's because there is a now a concrete pattern of never prosecuting government officials for crimes like this.
The long-term message that comes from NOT prosecuting government torturers, mass surveillance-ers and directors who lie to congress is there will be no consequences, so there is no reason to stop. Is it Snowden who should be prosecuted, or every person who works at the NSA, knew what was happening and that it coudln't possibly be legal, and did NOT speak up?
PS- hi, nsa
He will have the IRS turn the guy's life upside down. Civil forfeiture and financial account freezes are the modern torture.
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.
I write sci-fi for metalheads
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.
Good people go to bed earlier.
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.
Lost at C:>. Found at C.
Yes its true, people are too busy going around pretending to live in a free country when the truth is, anything some luddite in the government can make a flimsy justification is something you have no freedom to do anymore. free.....to do whats approved by our masters.
"I opened my eyes, and everything went dark again"
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.
"Give orange me give eat orange me eat orange give me eat orange give me you." -Nim Chimpsky
First it is a she. Amy Berman Jackson was appointed as a US DIstrict Court Judge by Obama in 2011.
Some airports don't allow you to carry on a device that can't be powered on. It's harder to hide something in a functional device than one that doesn't function I guess is the theory.
The TSA are idiots with no common sense. While I worked for a national security related police agency I was sent to Mexico to train their federal police officers. I had a plane change in New Jersey. Well the TSA decided that the 40 USBs in my bag, all brand new and still sealed in their packages, were "suspicious". So my plane left the US without any of my computer equipment - and of course no one told me. Everything was clearly labeled, I was travelling on a special government passport, and my police business card was attached to the bag with the equipment. The TSA folks opened all the USB wrappers and scanned every single one of the 40 blank USBs before sending them the next day on another plane. I now avoid the US on international flights as well as for tourism in general.
Can they scan it for potential hazards, or ask us to turn it on to "prove" it is not a hazard?
Sure.
But that is all the Gestapo can do.
Yes, and that's why they're nothing like the actual fucking Gestapo.
To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it