Customs agents barred from arbitrary laptop searches at Mexico border
Photo Credit: A U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer at the Port of Nogales U.S. Customs and Border Protection
Skift Take
This ruling also impacts business travelers crossing borders with sensitive corporate documents, and provides some new protections, although it is destined to make its way to the U.S. Supreme Court.
A federal appeals court ruled Friday that Border Patrol agents must have reasonable suspicion of criminal activity before conducting comprehensive searches of laptops or other digital devices in what civil liberties activists are calling a significant victory for privacy rights.
The decision by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals creates for the first time a broad standard aimed at protecting travelers' most private information from arbitrary searches.
"A person's digital life ought not be hijacked simply by crossing a border," Judge M. Margaret McKeown wrote for the appeals court majority.
The ruling only applies to Border Patrol agents operating within the 9th Circuit, which includes the U.S.-Mexico border along Arizona and California.
The court did not define what constitutes a comprehensive search, and it's likely Border Patrol agents will still conduct superficial reviews of computers, thumb drives, compact disks, cellphones, cameras and other electronic device
