Privacy at Borders and Checkpoints
Nguyen v. State
This case concerns the constitutionality of a highly intrusive law enforcement practice: the use of geofence warrants. Geofence warrants compel tech companies like Google to provide to law enforcement location data from every cell phone likely to have been within a certain area during a given time window. Then, law enforcement officers decide for themselves which users to focus on, and demand additional location information—and eventually identifying information—for the users they select. Geofence warrants raise grave constitutional concerns, including that (1) they authorize dragnet searches that sweep up the private data of many people without probable cause to believe that all or any of them were involved in any crime, and (2) they allow law enforcement officers to decide which users to focus on for additional data collection without judicial oversight. This case therefore has significant implications for Texans’ ability to secure their digital privacy and property against unjustified government intrusion.
Status: Ongoing
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4 Privacy at Borders and Checkpoints Cases
U.S. Supreme Court
Dec 2021
Privacy at Borders and Checkpoints
National Security
Merchant v. Mayorkas
The American Civil Liberties Union, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, and the ACLU of Massachusetts have filed a lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security on behalf of 11 travelers whose smartphones and laptops were searched without warrants at the U.S. border.
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U.S. Supreme Court
Dec 2021
Privacy at Borders and Checkpoints
National Security
Merchant v. Mayorkas
The American Civil Liberties Union, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, and the ACLU of Massachusetts have filed a lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security on behalf of 11 travelers whose smartphones and laptops were searched without warrants at the U.S. border.
Court Case
Aug 2020
Privacy at Borders and Checkpoints
Guan v. Wolf
The American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of San Diego, and the New York Civil Liberties Union have filed a lawsuit against U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on behalf of five journalists who were subject to unlawful questioning at the U.S. border. The lawsuit claims that border officers violated the First Amendment.
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Court Case
Aug 2020
Privacy at Borders and Checkpoints
Guan v. Wolf
The American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of San Diego, and the New York Civil Liberties Union have filed a lawsuit against U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on behalf of five journalists who were subject to unlawful questioning at the U.S. border. The lawsuit claims that border officers violated the First Amendment.
U.S. Supreme Court
Oct 2012
Privacy at Borders and Checkpoints
George v. TSA
Nick George was on his way to start his senior year at California’s Pomona College in August 2009 when he was detained, aggressively interrogated, handcuffed, and locked in a jail cell for nearly five hours at the Philadelphia International Airport because he was carrying a set of English-Arabic flashcards in for his college language class, as well as a book critical of U.S. foreign policy.
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U.S. Supreme Court
Oct 2012
Privacy at Borders and Checkpoints
George v. TSA
Nick George was on his way to start his senior year at California’s Pomona College in August 2009 when he was detained, aggressively interrogated, handcuffed, and locked in a jail cell for nearly five hours at the Philadelphia International Airport because he was carrying a set of English-Arabic flashcards in for his college language class, as well as a book critical of U.S. foreign policy.