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Wyden To Introduce Bill To Prohibit Warrantless Phone Searches At Border (onthewire.io)
Trailrunner7 quotes a report from On the Wire: A senator from Oregon who has a long track record of involvement on security and privacy issues says he plans to introduce a bill soon that would prevent border agents from forcing Americans returning to the country to unlock their phones without a warrant. Sen. Ron Wyden said in a letter to the secretary of the Department of Homeland Security that he is concerned about reports that Customs and Border Patrol agents are pressuring returning Americans into handing over their phone PINs or using their fingerprints to unlock their phones. DHS Secretary John Kelly has said that he's considering the idea of asking visitors for the login data for their various social media accounts, information that typically would require a warrant to obtain. "Circumventing the normal protection for such private information is simply unacceptable," Wyden said in the letter, sent Monday. "There are well-established procedures governing how law enforcement agencies may obtain data from social media companies and email providers. The process typically requires that the government obtain a search warrant or other court order, and then ask the service provider to turn over the user's data."
As a New Zealander I hold with our national view that Australia is full of cunts :P .
This is outrageous and an affront to our troops and veterans. Yes, as an American citizen you have the right to enter the country, but you gave up the right to absolute privacy when you left. The threat of illegal immigration and ISIS terrorism is simply TOO great to allow anyone to enter the country without proper vetting and examining suspicious peoples electronics is a completely reasonable thing. I plan to donate a large sum of money to whichever Republican is best set up to defeat this fucker in the next election and I hope a lot of my true American patriot friends on slashdot are willing to join me.