Your laptop computer and smart phone carry a picture of your digital life: browsing history, pictures, personal files, e-mail. According to the New York Times, U.S. Border Patrol agents find such devices to be a trove of information in their quest to unveil criminal activity. But at what point do these electronic inspections cross the line from valid crime-fighting tool to violation of Fourth Amendment rights against unreasonable search and seizure?
The American Civil Liberties Union worries that the government’s program, though small, could be the beginning of a wider effort to peer into the digital lives of citizens.