Can border agents search your laptop? Yes.

Found on Ars Technica on Wednesday, 26 July 2006
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Stuart Romm boarded a plane in Las Vegas on February 1, 2004. When he got off the plane in British Columbia, Canada's Border Services Agency stopped Romm for questioning. After learning that Romm had a criminal background, Agent Keith Brown searched his laptop and discovered child porn sites in Romm's Internet history list. Canada then bundled Romm back onto a plane to Seattle, where US Customs agents had a chance to question him further.

An appeal of the case went to the Ninth Circuit in San Francisco, which was charged with deciding an important issue: can border patrol agents search laptops without a warrant and without probable cause? The court's ruling was handed down on Monday, and said that yes, agents can search laptops for any reason.

The court argued that the forensic analysis fell under the "border search exception to the warrant requirement." This exception was established by United States v. Montoya de Hernandez in 1985, and says that "the government may conduct routine searches of persons entering the United States without probable cause, reasonable suspicion, or a warrant." The court goes on to note that international airports count as border terminals, even if not physically located on a US border.

Now a lot of people will say that's great because Romm was in possession of child porn; and arguing about all that will make them think you support it. Putting this "lucky catch" aside, the procedure itself should be discussed. I wouldn't want my personal information being inspected by some agent just because he wants to. If there is no probable cause, then my data is none of his business. This will only make encryption more interesting for the everyday user. Now you might get into legal troubles when you refuse to reveal your password; but if you have nothing to hide, you can decide to tell them at any point and get away. However, if you have troublesome data, reaching from child porn to terrorism plans on your laptop, then the fine for refusing to unlock is harmless in comparison. In the end, it's a win-win game for the bad guys.