On The Road

Senator Russ Feingold (D-WI) introduced the Traveler’s Protection Act of 2008 last Friday to stop the seemingly random search and seizure of computers, laptops, cell phones, cameras and other tech equipment when an American re-enters the country from a trip abroad.

“There is a compelling and immediate need for this legislation,” said Feingold, in introducing his bill on Friday. “Travelers have been forced to wait for hours while customs agents reviewed and sometimes copied the contents of the electronic devices. In some cases, the laptops or cell phones were confiscated, and returned weeks or even months later, with no explanation.”

The bill would require all Department of Homeland Security (DHS) agents to have reasonable suspicion before searching the contents of laptops or other electronic equipment carried by U.S. citizens. It would also ban profiling based on travelers’ race or ethnicity, allow people detained to witness the process of their laptop being examined, limit the time officials can hold a traveler’s hardware and provide compensation for damage to a traveler’s computer.

And the DHS seems unlikely to cooperate. When Feingold chaired a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on the issue in June, the DHS refused to send a witness for the hearing and did not comply with the committee’s request to produce answers to the questions previously submitted to DHS Secretary Michael Chertoff before the hearing.

The bill is cosponsored by three Democratic Senators, Daniel Akaka of Hawaii, Ron Wyden or Oregon and Washington’s Maria Cantwell. — read the whole article on Huffington Post

You can track this bill on govtrack.us.