Amid complaints from travelers about Department of Homeland Security agents now demanding they unlock their cell phones to allow searches of the devices, Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden asked the department to explain what was going on. They simply ignored his request.
"It's very concerning that [the Department of Homeland Security] hasn't managed to answer my questions about the number of digital searches at the border, five weeks after I requested that basic information," Wyden, a leading congressional advocate for civil liberties and privacy, told Mother Jones on Tuesday through a spokesman. "If CBP were to undertake a system of indiscriminate digital searches, that would distract CBP from its core mission, dragging time and attention away from catching the bad guys."
Given that he can't seem to get DHS's attention any other way, he's proceeding to step two: He says he'll introduce legislation to require warrants for such phone searches and which will forbid DHS from demanding passwords to the devices. DHS, in the meantime, seems to have found time to write op-eds defending themselves even if they can't be bothered to answer the questions of a sitting senator.
In a March 27 USA Today op-ed, Joseph B. Maher, DHS acting general counsel, compared device searches to searching luggage. "Just as Customs is charged with inspecting luggage, vehicles and cargo containers upon arrival to the USA, there are circumstances in this digital age when we must inspect an electronic device for violations of the law," Maher wrote.
What are the "circumstances?" It's unclear. Why are the "circumstances" different than they were a few months ago? Couldn't tell ya. It seems like that argument is one that could be made to senators, rather than to USA Today, but clearly DHS only has the resources to do one or the other.
So Wyden, who cites not only the obvious privacy concerns but the security dangers in creating yet another vast federal repository of ultra-sensitive data about private citizens, a repository that would be a gold mine for any hacker able to crack it, is now planning to introduce legislation curbing the practice.