The American Civil Liberties Union
on Tuesday filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Homeland Security
that challenges the authority of U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents to
search and seize "without reasonable
suspicion" travelers' laptops and other electronic
devices.
ACLU said it filed the
suit in a New York district court, along with the New York Civil Liberties
Union, on behalf of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, the National
Press Photographers Association and Pascal Abidor, whose laptop was confiscated
this year while traveling on an Amtrak train from Montreal to New York.
Abidor, an Islamic studies
Ph.D. student with dual citizenship in France and the United States, "was
questioned, handcuffed, taken off the train and kept in a holding cell for
several hours before being released without charge," ACLU claimed. "When
his laptop was returned 11 days later, there was evidence that many of his
personal files, including research, photos and chats with his girlfriend, had
been searched." NACDL and NPPA said its members similarly have been
subject to such searches.
ACLU long has been a
critic of the CBP policy, which was issued in 2008 and claims the right to
search laptops, electronic devices and other material of any traveler, whether
citizens or non-citizen, at the border. Citing documents obtained through a
Freedom of Information Act request filed last year, ACLU said more than 6,500
travelers, almost half of whom are U.S. citizens, have faced such searches or
seizures between October 2008 and June 2010. ACLU in its suit argues that the
DHS policy violates First and Fourth Amendment rights.
"These days,
almost everybody carries a cell phone or laptop when traveling, and almost
everyone stores information they wouldn't want to share with government
officials—from financial records to love letters to family photos," ACLU
Speech, Privacy and Technology Project staff attorney Catherine Crump said in a
statement. "Innocent Americans should not be made to feel like the
personal information they store on their laptops and cell phones is vulnerable
to searches by government officials any time they travel out of the
country."