Customs officers are ordering some returning travelers to unlock their phones for data searches.(Image: Jim Glab)
Imagine returning to the U.S. from a long trip and having a customs agent demand your mobile phone password so he or she can inspect its contents. Sounds appalling, but it’s happening these days right here at SFO. [Read Full Story]
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The ACLU has taken up the case of a U.S. artist named Aaron Gach, who returned to the U.S. at San Francisco International from an exhibition in Europe, and was pulled aside by CBP officers and ordered to unlock his iPhone for a search of its contents. Gach resisted, but finally gave in when he was told that if he didn’t, CBP would keep his phone for an indefinite period. You can read more about it here
The ACLU has become much more active in trying to protect the rights of travelers during the Trump era. It was the ACLU that led the challenge to the Administration’s initial order barring travelers from certain Muslim-majority countries. That order, and a revised version, were blocked by the courts.
In April NPR reported that in 2016, “the number of people asked to hand over their cell phones and passwords by Customs and Border Protection agents increased almost threefold over the year before.”
Chris McGinnis is a travel blogger and editor of TravelSkills.com. You can reach Chris at chris@travelskills.com or on Twitter @cjmcginnis.
