U.S. Customs Opens Mass Searches of Data on Confiscated Traveler Smartphones, Computers

guest · Aug 28, 2020

U.S. Customs Opens Mass Searches of Data on Confiscated Traveler Smartphones, Computers
August 27, 2020
https://www.natlawreview.com/articl...ta-confiscated-traveler-smartphones-computers

But I am concerned about reports that the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Agency is now building a searchable database of all of the data taken off of devices seized from travelers over the years.

This takes a set of actions that many classify as unconstitutional overreach – the Custom officers’ confiscation of devices from travelers at U.S. borders – and multiplies it into a deep invasion of people’s privacy. The information gleaned from this database clearly being the fruit of a poisonous tree.
Deep as we are into the age of analytics, we know that holding information is one thing, but being able to search and analyze across millions of files of disparate information is another thing. Patterns emerge. Logic arises. Meaningless facts become items of interest.
Click to expand...

And this proposed database goes far afield. According to Vice, the information will be from the tens of thousands of cell phones, laptops, iPads, and other devices taken from travelers at or near the U.S. borders – taken often without charging the device holder with a specific crime.

Think about what is in these seized devices – your entire location history, all of your correspondence and social media posts, your web surfing history, all photos/videos, your banking information – all of which will be dropped into this searchable database for government review.
So, while I am in favor of law enforcement using all reasonable tools available to them under law, I am not sure how searching this database qualifies as a reasonable tool and why its use is not limited under law.
Click to expand...

There should be some balance at the border between safety and privacy.
Click to expand...

CBP Now Has a Massive Searchable Database for Devices Seized at the Border

The US border agency will be able to sift through data extracted from travelers' laptops and cellphones for up to 75 years
Click to expand...

Log in or Sign up

U.S. Customs Opens Mass Searches of Data on Confiscated Traveler Smartphones, Computers

guest Guest

Log in or Sign up

U.S. Customs Opens Mass Searches of Data on Confiscated Traveler Smartphones, Computers

guest Guest

Useful Searches