According to the United States Department of Homeland Security, border officials are permitted to search the devices of anyone entering the country with or without probable cause, though there is a limit to type of content they can view. Senator Ron Wyden sent a letter to Homeland Security in February seeking clarification regarding why US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has been conducting more searches than ever before. Kevin McALeenan, the acting commissioner of CBP, responded to the letter on June 20, revealing that while devices such as smartphones and laptops can be searched, files stored in the cloud are inaccessible to…
[Continue Reading]