Court Upholds Willy-Nilly Gadget Searches Along U.S. Border

David Kravets, reporting for Wired Threat Level:

A federal judge today upheld a President Barack Obama administration policy allowing authorities along the U.S. border to seize and search laptops, smartphones and other electronic devices for any reason.

Paul Haddad raises an interesting point on Twitter:

Laptop border searches are legal, but so is strong encryption. I don’t love the decision, but who doesn’t travel with everything encrypted?

They can’t force you to reveal your password — although they will “demand” you provide it to them, and most people comply — but they can confiscate your devices.

★ Thursday, 2 January 2014