Rand to Hold Hearing on DHS Searching Smartphones Without a Warrant
From a press release:
Quote:
WEDNESDAY: Dr. Rand Paul to Hold Hearing on DHS Searching Smartphones Without a Warrant
WASHINGTON, D.C. – This Wednesday, July 11, at 2:30 p.m. eastern, U.S. Senator Rand Paul, chairman of the Federal Spending Oversight and Emergency Management (FSO) Subcommittee for the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee (HSGAC), will hold a hearing entitled, “Examining Warrantless Smartphone Searches at the Border.”Currently, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) policies permit customs and border authorities to seize and search American citizens’ smartphones and other digital devices when they travel internationally to and from the United States, without a warrant or suspicion of wrongdoing.
The FSO subcommittee will hear testimony regarding the history of this so-called “border search exception” to the warrant requirement of the Fourth Amendment and will evaluate the far-reaching privacy implications of DHS’ policy of allowing customs and border officials to seize and search the digital devices of international travelers without a warrant.
In April 2017, Dr. Paul joined U.S. Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) in introducing the Protecting Data at the Border Act (S. 823) to stop this violation of Americans’ Fourth Amendment rights and prevent government officials from requiring Americans to disclose sensitive information on their digital lives in order to leave or re-enter the country.
WEDNESDAY, JULY 11, 2018
WHAT: Subcommittee on Federal Spending Oversight and Emergency Management hearing entitled, “Examining Warrantless Smartphone Searches at the Border”
WHEN: 2:30 p.m. eastern
WHERE: SD-342, Dirksen Senate Office Building
WITNESSES:
Laura K. Donohue, J.D., Ph.D.
Professor of Law
Georgetown University Law Center
Neema Singh Guliani
Senior Legislative Counsel
American Civil Liberties Union
Matthew Feeney
Director, Project on Emerging Technologies
The Cato Institute