US and Canada border crossing and computer privacy: What do I need to know?
- By
- Aparna Patel
- |
- 19 Jul, 2023
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Yes, U.S. Customs and Border Protection can and does search electronic devices entering the country. No, it does not matter if the device belongs to a US citizen or not. There have been court cases about this practice, but so far the courts have decided it does not constitute unreasonable search and seizure since the searches occur before the traveler has entered the country, they are happening “outside” of the USA and probable cause does not apply.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents encountered more than 221 million travelers at U.S. ports of
entry and performed about 1,000 laptop searches. Of this number, 46
were considered “in-depth,” meaning the agents examined individual
files.
Source: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/09/11/TRN819IUSU.DTL
It’s not clear if you would be forced to give a password during a laptop search, but it seems likely that not doing so could be used as grounds for seizure of the laptop or denying entry to a non US citizen.
EDIT: Edited to be clearer that US citizens cannot be denied entry into the US as pointed out by @littleadv.
EDIT December 2013 court case finds against EFF: https://www.aclu.org/national-security-technology-and-liberty/court-rules-no-suspicion-needed-laptop-searches-border
I know that for security reasons, they ask to turn the laptop on and have it running in front of them. I know it happens.
I know that they’ve asked for passwords from non-US citizens, and I’ve heard about cases where the immigration officers denied entry to tourists based on what they’ve found on their laptops.
But Apparently, as shown in the comments, even when you’re a US citizen, to the best of my knowledge they cannot they can search your laptop (i.e.: require the password) without a warrant.
As a US citizen, you cannot be denied entry to the US.
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Credit:stackoverflow.com‘