American Anthropological Association

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The American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) last week in an effort to unveil documents concerning the agency’s laptop border search policy. The 2008 policy allows US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents to search electronic devices without probable cause and to copy information contained on these devices. Although very few (approx. 1,000) searches have occurred, business, advocacy and scientific organizations have reacted strongly to the warrantless intrusions.

The AAA has urged DHS to reconsider its policy and has pressured Congress to support legislation that protects travelers’ privacy: the Travelers Privacy Protection Act of 2008 and the Electronic Device Privacy Act of 2008. The association wrote,

Our discipline places the highest value upon protecting research participants, and these searches represent a breach of the trust and cooperation that have been painstakingly earned throughout years of fieldwork. Dissemination of raw data to anyone besides the researcher(s) violates our discipline’s ethical standards and may compromise the safety of our research participants and deter them from providing valuable information and resources to our members.

DHS released a new set of directives last week in an attempt to clarify search procedures and increase transparency. The directives improve upon the previous policy by limiting the time that electronic devices can be held and requiring copied information to be destroyed, barring suspicion of a crime. The AAA has yet to respond to these new directives, but the ACLU has already aired its concerns:

DHS’s latest policy announcement on border searches is a disappointment, and should not be mistaken for one that restores the constitutional rights of travelers at the border. Members of the public deserve fundamental privacy rights when traveling and the safety of knowing that federal agents cannot rifle through their laptops without some reasonable suspicion of wrongdoing. The ACLU does not oppose border searches, but it does oppose a policy that leaves government officials free to exercise their power arbitrarily. Such a policy not only invades our privacy but can lead to racial and religious profiling.

Related AAA Advocacy Letters (pdfs)

• Letter to DHS
• Response from DHS
• Letter to Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA)
• Letters to Committee on the Judiciary and Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs

Filed under: Advocacy, Public Affairs