Federal Court Rules Warrantless Border Device Searches Unconstitutional
A Boston federal court rules that border agents need reasonable suspicion to search travelers' electronic devices, striking down government policies as a Fourth Amendment violation.
A federal court in Boston rules that the government violates the Fourth Amendment by searching travelers' phones and electronic devices at the U.S. border without reasonable suspicion of a crime. This decision marks a significant victory for civil liberties advocates, including the ACLU and the Electronic Frontier Foundation, who support 11 travelers in challenging the constitutionality of suspicionless device searches.
The border operates as a legal grey area where the government historically claims powers it cannot exercise inside the United States. Despite this longstanding claim of authority, the court explicitly rejects the government's warrantless search policies. Under the previous rules, Customs and Border Protection shares any collected data with federal, state, local, and foreign law enforcement agencies.
Device searches at the border increase fourfold since 2015, with officials searching 40,913 devices in fiscal year 2019 alone. Travelers also face pressure to hand over social media handles, and authorities sometimes deny entry based on content shared by other people on a traveler's phone. Attorneys for the ACLU and EFF praise the ruling as a major step forward in protecting the sensitive digital information that people carry across international borders.