Biz travel group urges Congress to protect rights of laptop toters
Dan Luzadder, Travel Weekly, 5/2/2008 (excerpted)
The Association of Corporate Travel Executives said this week that it would join other privacy groups asking Congress for legislation protecting the privacy of travelers carrying laptops across U.S. borders.
The move follows a federal court ruling upholding searches and seizures of laptops. On April 21, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in California ruled that the federal government has the right to inspect the contents of laptop computers and other electronic devices carried by international travelers entering the U.S., even without the "reasonable suspicion" test normally required under federal law.
The ruling prompted a warning from ACTE that corporations and their business travelers should limit the amount of proprietary data on laptops, PDAs and other devices when they cross U.S. borders. It also warned that personal data, including photographs, finances and e-mail, are subject to examination by Customs and Border Protection inspectors at any U.S. border station.
ACTE said that it had joined the Electronic Frontier Foundation, the American Civil Liberties Union and others in petitioning Congress to hold hearings on the seizure and search of travelers' private digital information under Department of Homeland Security policies.
"ACTE objects to any ruling that allows the government of a free country unlimited power to read, seize, store and use all the information on any electronic device carried by any traveler entering or leaving the nation without suspicion or due process," [ACTE Global Executive Director Susan] Gurley said.
ACTE noted that the government has never issued guidelines for travelers about what might trigger a secondary inspection or seizure of an electronic device. The appeals court did not address those concerns.
In a letter sent this week to Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), chairman of the House Committee on Homeland Security, the organizations asked the committee to investigate the seizure of password-protected corporate and personal laptops to determine what constitutes "suspicious" material and to address the lack of published guidelines over what constitutes appropriate electronic device search and seizure.
The organization also wants the DHS to publish guidelines and policies on the disposition of personal data regarding third parties named or listed in seized data, such as corporate records, financial material, human resources personnel records, private e-mail and family communications, ACTE said.
"We are asking Congress to hold hearings regarding these arbitrary searches and to consider legislation to prevent abusive search practices," Gurley said. "This issue is so significant, and has the potential to impact so many travelers, that we are compelled to leave no stone unturned in following it to an ultimate conclusion."
The letter to Thompson was also signed by the ACLU, the Rutherford Institute and the American Association of University Professors. ACTE said it would address the issue at a special Travel Industry Security Summit, to be held May 19 during ACTE's Global Education Conference in Washington.