The United States District Court in New York has become the first court to rule that a warrant is required for border mobile phone searches unless there are urgent circumstances. This was made known in its decision in United States v. Smith (S.D.N.Y. May 11, 2023).
The court in this instance mainly relied on the historic Supreme Court decision in Riley vs. California (2014), which found that a warrant is required to examine an arrested person’s cell phone. According to the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), the Supreme Court’s ruling in Riley underscored the need of balancing the need for the search for law enforcement purposes against the possible harm presented by the suspect.
Using Riley’s reasoning, the New York court applied a similar balancing test to unwarranted border searches. Cell phones, the judge decided, frequently include large quantities of very sensitive information, including past communications, travel records, transaction history, internet surfing activity, medical information, and more. The court highlighted that it is absurd for any traveler to give up their privacy rights to such vast amounts of data merely by carrying a cell phone on their return from an international trip.
EFF is ecstatic about this ruling, which establishes a precedent for future cases and is anticipated to have a significant influence on law enforcement operations at US borders. If the case is appealed to the Second Circuit, the EFF is urging the appellate court to uphold the ruling.
The sources for this piece include an article in EFF.
