October 13, 2021 11:00 a.m.  

Oregon Senator Ron Wyden and Kentucky Republican Senator Rand Paul have introduced the Protecting Data at the Border Act to stop the government from forcing Americans to face searches of their phones, laptops and other digital devices just to cross the border.

A Wyden release said the bipartisan legislation prevents law enforcement agencies from continuing to take advantage of the so-called border search “exception” in order to conduct warrantless searches of American’s phones and laptops. The release said these searches have continued to increase in recent years and have been used to target journalists and activists who were not suspected of crimes.

Wyden said, “Americans travel with phones and laptops holding nearly our entire lives. Traveling near the border shouldn’t give the government a free pass to throw out our rights and thumb through our phones without any suspicion of wrongdoing”. Wyden said requiring a warrant to search personal devices will focus the government’s resources on real threats, while upholding “…core Constitutional protections for liberty and privacy”.

A summary of the bill is linked: https://www.wyden.senate.gov/download/protecting-data-at-the-border-act-of-2021-one-pager

The legislation has the support of the American Civil Liberties Union and a number of other organizations.