Data on electronic devices subject to searches at border

USA TODAY, July, 2008

WASHINGTON -- Jawad Khaki came to America for justice and freedom. But he says he doubts those ideals after U.S. Customs officials have repeatedly searched his smart phone when he returns from abroad.

Khaki's story joins other reports in the past few years of U.S. Customs officials searching laptops, cellphones and digital cameras in the name of security. In April, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the constitutionality of border searches of electronics in a child-pornography case.

"I've had to unlock my phone and show them my scheduled tasks, calendar and contacts," said Khaki, 50, a corporate executive who has been a U.S. citizen since leaving England 23 years ago.

Customs officials say that electronic storage media are the places where they can find evidence of criminal enterprise -- such as child pornography or money laundering. Such media ...