US challenged over laptop seizures

7 Feb 2008 | 13:35 GMT

By Mark Ballard

RIGHTS CAMPAIGNERS are suing the US government today after a raft of complaints from travellers who had their electronic gizmos seized by border guards.

US customs officers have been seizing travelers' laptops, MP3 players, telephones and other electronic devices and searching them for terrorist literature, child pornography and other criminal evidence.

But the Electronic Frontiers Foundation and Asian Law Caucus will
request in a Californian lawsuit today that the US explain if there is rhyme or reason to the seizures.

Maria Udy, a British citizen had her laptop taken by a border guard who labeled her a "security concern" when she was returning home from a business trip to the US in December 2006, according to the Washington Post today.

Guards are taking devices and passwords, ripping contents including web browsing histories, emails and documents and returning laptops over a week later. Udy told the Post that the US has still not returned her laptop.

The Association of Corporate Travel Executives has collected an
unspecified number of similar complaints. Business travelers have been warned not to travel with sensitive corporate or personal information on their laptops, but to access data online.

The lawsuit draws from 15 cases similar to Udy's. Almost all of those involved where of Muslim, Middle Eastern or South Asian descent. The US Customs & Border Agency denied racial discrimination.

A year ago, the EFF had made a Freedom of Information request for the policy behind the US seizure of laptops. It did not receive a reply. Its lawsuit is also asking for a clarification of what rights the US has to ask travelers about their political, religious and other views.

Challenged in this way before, the US has conceded that its border guards should respect the rights to privacy of US citizens. But foreigners were denied the same right.

However, after much barracking from the EU over its collection of
Passenger Name Record data about travelers, the US agreed to extend similar rights to EU citizens, by way of a gentleman's agreement. µ

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