A lawsuit over airport search and seizure of laptops and other items
Posted by Nick on February 12, 2008
Last week the Electronic Frontier Foundation and Asian Law Caucus filed a lawsuit that accuses customs agents of “lengthy questioning and intrusive searches” and seeks clarification on the law that allows such searches. In some cases items have actually been kept and never returned to the travelers.
The Customs and Border Protection defends the searches. They even go so far as to say the agency does not need to show probable cause to look inside suitcases or laptops. (Personally I find that outrageous.)
Even more outrageous is the response from the TSA.
A spokesman for the Department of Homeland Security equates searches of electronic devices to those of papers in briefcases.
“You forgo your right to privacy when you are seeking admission into the country,” he says. “This is the kind of scrutiny the American public expects.”
