Campaign Gearing Up Against Cellphone Access at US Borders, as House Bill Looms
Civil society, reporters' groups and others will soon intensify a campaign against what they say is increasing government practice to get access to cellphones and other electronic devices owned by U.S. citizens and foreign travelers, including journalists, at airports and border crossings. Meanwhile, a spokesman for Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., confirmed Friday the senator is finalizing legislation that would require Customs and Border Protection agents to obtain a warrant to search devices of U.S. citizens and prevent the agents from demanding device passwords. The spokesman expects the bill to be released in the next two weeks.
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Emma Llansó, free expression policy director at the Center for Democracy & Technology, told us several groups will be raising awareness about increasing government scrutiny and searches of electronic devices at the borders. She also said they're pushing back on a recent suggestion by Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly that the U.S. government get passwords and access to the social media accounts of travelers from several Muslim-majority countries -- which have also been subject of proposed travel bans by the Trump administration -- as a condition for U.S. entry (see 1702210007). More than a week ago, a coalition led by CDT wrote a letter to Kelly asking him to reject that proposal (see 1703100039).
Llansó, who spoke Friday at an event sponsored by the Internet Society’s Washington chapter and held around a coffee table in a Dupont Circle coffee shop, said the practice of requiring access to electronic devices is having a "chilling effect" on freedom of the press and freedom of association, and raising privacy and security concerns. The government says the searches are based on national security concerns, but Llansó said it's collecting a "huge haystack" to find few, if any, needles. Instead, the government is trying to map people's social networks that could be shared with the larger intelligence community and even globally, she said.
It's unclear how much leeway CBP agents have in searching people at airports and border crossings, but U.S. citizens can't be deported but may be detained for several hours, said Llansó. Non-citizens can be turned away, she said, saying it seems to be applied disproportionately to people of color and Muslims. Llansó said it's possible other nations could follow suit and ask U.S. citizens for information about their devices or social media accounts.
The Department of Homeland Security didn't respond to our email. Last week, NBC News reported DHS provided-data showed 25,000 cellphone searches were conducted by border agents last year, about five times more than in 2015. DHS said 5,000 devices were searched in February.
The practice "poses a severe risk to certain populations of people, particularly journalists, lawyers and anyone who has to protect their work product," said Courtney Radsch, advocacy director at the Committee to Protect Journalists. She told us at least 14 journalists, including some who are U.S. citizens, were detained for secondary screening such as having their electronic devices searched by CBP agents from 2008 until this January. Her group filed a Freedom of Information Act request and appeals with DHS for information on how many journalists have filed complaints but hasn't heard back, she said.
Encryption is one way to protect people's information on the devices, Radsch said; otherwise, store everything in the cloud. She said she heard of one journalist whose device's SIM card was copied and then returned. She said her group is also supporting the Freedom of the Press Foundation's initiative to create encrypted still photo and video cameras to protect filmmakers and photojournalists.