Good Question -- FBI avoids warrant by having TSA search computer at airport

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: Mihai Christodorescu <mihaic () gmail com>
Date: April 19, 2010 11:08:14 AM EDT
To: dave () farber net
Cc: ip <ip () v2 listbox com>
Subject: Re: [IP] FBI avoids warrant by having TSA search computer at airport
Reply-To: mihaic () gmail com


I wonder how deep these searches on electronic devices are. I could store
everything "in the cloud", such that my laptop only runs a web browser and
caches credentials for cloud access. (Apparently, the (soon-to-come?) GoogleOS
will work just like that.) So what happens when a border search sees a
completely blank laptop only with a browser and a list of passwords to online
accounts? Are they allowed to log in to my online accounts?


Mihai


Dave Farber wrote:
> > From: "Brock N. Meeks" <bnmeeks () verizon net>
> > To: <dave () farber net>
> > Date: April 18, 2010 10:29:32 PM EDT
> > Subject: Re: [IP] FBI avoids warrant by having TSA search computer at airport
>
> Nothing new here other than another court decision affirming the right
> of Homeland Security to search electronic devices of all kinds when
> entering (or reentering) the U.S.   And was this really the TSA that was
> involved?  TSA doesn’t man the border inspection, that is handled by the
> CBP (customs and border protection) arm of Homeland security.  I ask
> this because the article below says, “... simply because a U.S. citizen
> is returning from a foreign country by airplane.”  But this situation
> applies at any border crossing and TSA doesn’t handle any border duties.  
>
>
> On 4/18/10 8:41 PM, "Dave Farber" <dave () farber net> wrote:
>
>
>
>
>
>    Begin forwarded message:
>
>        *From:* Labmanager <labmanager () gmail com>
>        *Date:* April 18, 2010 6:30:05 PM EDT
>        *To:* Dave Farber <dave () farber net>
>        *Subject:* *FBI avoids warrant by having TSA search computer at
>        airport
>        *
>        http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2010/apr/18/tsa-to-download-your-itunes/
>        <http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2010/apr/18/tsa-to-download-your-itunes/>
>
>
>        Federal security workers are now free to snoop through more than
>        just your undergarments and luggage at the airport. Thanks to a
>        recent series of federal court decisions, the digital belongings
>        of international fliers are now open for inspection. This
>        includes reading the saved e-mails on your laptop, scanning the
>        address book on your iPhone or BlackBerry and closely
>        scrutinizing your digital vacation snapshots.
>
>        Unlike the more common confiscations of dangerous Evian bottles
>        and fingernail clippers, these searches are not being done in
>        the name of safety. The digital seizures instead are part of a
>        disturbing trend of federal agencies using legal gimmicks to
>        sidestep Fourth Amendment constitutional protections. This
>        became clear in an April 8 court ruling that found admissible
>        the evidence obtained by officials who had peeped at a
>        passenger's laptop files at George Bush Intercontinental Airport
>        in Houston.
>
>        According to court documents, FBI agents had identified an
>        individual suspected of downloading child pornography on an
>        Internet chat room. The G-men, however, did not want to take
>        their evidence before a judge to obtain a search warrant, as the
>        Constitution requires. Instead, they flagged the suspect's
>        passport and asked officials at the Department of Homeland
>        Security to seize and search his computer at the airport -
>        without a warrant. Three incriminating images were found during
>        the examination, but this case is not about whether a particular
>        person is a scumbag. It's about abusing a principle that applies
>        to all Americans.
>
>        U.S. District Judge Gray H. Miller found in this case that
>        neither probable cause, justification nor warrant were required
>        to seize and examine the suspect's laptop. Judge Miller, in
>        accord with a 9th Circuit appellate ruling handed down two years
>        ago, explained that "the court finds that reviewing the files of
>        a computer does not rise to the level of invasion of the privacy
>        and dignity of the individual to make the search non-routine."
>
>        In other words, simply because a U.S. citizen is returning from
>        a foreign country by airplane, the government thinks it is a
>        "routine" matter to download sensitive business documents,
>        personal correspondence and any other information that might be
>        saved on a laptop or cell phone, regardless of whether there is
>        any reason to suspect the traveler of a crime.
>
>        The danger of this chain of reasoning is magnified by the
>        courts' expansive definition of "border," which now includes
>        checkpoints operating up to 100 miles from Canada or Mexico.
>        Those traveling on the highway between Los Angeles and Phoenix,
>        for example, may find themselves stopped by Department of
>        Homeland Security officers who, literally, ask travelers to show
>        their papers. Drug dogs also can be brought in to search
>        vehicles without probable cause.
>
>        The Fourth Amendment guarantees the right of Americans to be
>        "secure in their persons, houses, papers and effects" from
>        unreasonable and unwarranted government intrusion. It is obvious
>        that this right is meant to apply equally to papers that happen
>        to be stored in digital form on a personal hard drive. Such
>        protections do not disappear merely because one happens to be at
>        a real - or imaginary - border.
>
>        Because the courts have been derelict in their duty to uphold
>        this fundamental right, it is up to Congress to prohibit the
>        thinly veiled attempts to create Constitution-free zones where
>        Americans find their privacy invaded.
>
>
>
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-- 
mihaic () gmail com
-------------------------------------------------------
 The man of knowledge must be able not only to love
his enemies but also to hate his friends.
                                - Friedrich Nietzsche




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