[Infowarrior] - Groups challenge U.S. gov't on seized laptops

[Richard Forno]

Groups seek to challenge U.S. gov't on seized laptops
Agam Shah

http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9144579/Groups_seek_to_challenge_U.S._gov_t_on_seized_laptops
January 13, 2010 (IDG News Service) The policy of random laptop  
searches and seizures by U.S. government agents at border crossings is  
under attack again, with a pair of civil rights groups seeking  
potential plaintiffs for a lawsuit that challenges the practice.

The American Civil Liberties Union is working with the National  
Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers to find lawyers whose laptops  
or other electronic devices were searched at U.S. points of entry and  
exit. The groups argue that the practice of suspicionless laptop  
searches violates fundamental rights of freedom of speech and  
protection against unreasonable seizures and searches.

The groups have the support of Electronic Frontier Foundation, which  
has argued in court that laptop searches are invasive because devices  
like laptops contain personal data, which people should be able to  
keep private. EFF has also argued that some searches have been  
conducted without suspicion.

"This lawsuit will not seek monetary damages for individuals who have  
been searched; instead, it will focus exclusively on fixing the  
unconstitutional policy," wrote Jennifer Granick, civil liberties  
director and lawyer with the Electronic Frontier Foundation, in a blog  
entry on Wednesday.

NACDL believes the policy "erodes fundamental privacy rights  
generally," the group said on its Web site. It "has a particularly  
chilling impact on lawyers who travel abroad with legal documents that  
are subject to the attorney-client or work-product privileges," NACDL  
wrote.

Last year, a document surfaced on the U.S. Department of Homeland  
Security's Web site that authorized U.S. agents to seize and retain  
laptops indefinitely. Government agents belonging to the U.S. Customs  
and Border Protection, which is a part of DHS, were also authorized to  
seize electronic devices including portable media players and cell  
phones and inspect documents in them.

The DHS has defended the policy of searching electronic devices,  
stating that its ability to "inspect what is coming into the United  
States is central to keeping dangerous people and things from entering  
the country and harming the American people," according to the  
agency's Web site.

The ACLU is already challenging DHS in court over the issue. In August  
last year, the group filed a suit against the DHS after it was denied  
access to documents to learn about the policy. The EFF and the Asian  
Law Caucus (ALC) also filed a case last year against the DHS after  
they were denied access to records on questioning and searches of  
travelers at U.S. borders.