August 28th, 2009

DHS Clarifies Laptop Border Searches

By Thomas Claburn, InformationWeek

Marcia Hofmann, staff attorney at the EFF, says the new directives appear to be largely the same as past policy, although they do provide welcome specificity about border search procedures. "For example, the July 2008 border search policy issued by CBP said that agents could detain devices or copies for a 'reasonable period of time to perform a thorough border search,' but it wasn't clear what a 'reasonable period of time' was," she explained in an e-mail. "The new directives specify actual time lines, which is a positive change."

Related Issues: Travel Screening

Related Cases: FOIA: Border Searches

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