Retention of the data also makes it not just a search but a seizure. It the data kept ? Who owns the data ?
I'm sure intellectual property rights and "copying and keeping a copy of property"were not considered when the constitution was written.
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Having to disclose a password or encryption key would fall under this category. (Self incrimination)
The current argument is that they are not "in the United States" but in "Customs pre-clearance".
Interesting. I wonder if there is an old case - prior to the telecommunications era, that is - in which a US customs agent was challenged for copying the written contents of letters/manuscripts of a citizen returning to the country, as that would provide fairly direct precedent. Nevertheless, it is clear that if you leave the US many of your basic rights will be suspended or, at least, weakened, upon your return.
In Arizona v. Hicks a police officer was legally searching an apartment, observed a Stereo he believed was suspicious, copied the serial number on the stereo, and later determined it was in fact stolen. The Supreme court held the copying of the serial number did not constitute a seizure. This precedent was later expanded to also include photographs taken of items in plain view.
There are two cases involving wiretapping, Berger v. New York, and Katz v. US, and in both cases the court referred to the act of wiretapping as a "Search and
seizure" with the later case involving a case in which the government was recording a conversation.
Based on the above, retaining the data would likely constitute a seizure. However my understanding is that CBP will often search electronic devices before the person is allowed to enter into the country, and the search will be complete prior to entry. If they observe evidence of a crime, they can apply for a search warrant to seize the data.
I wouldn't recommend cloud storage for critical private information. Anything on the internet is vulnerable and it is potentially there forever. You potentially have multiple foreign nations trying to get access to it.
Yep, I totally agree with this. I don't keep anything critical on cloud services like OneDrive, DropBox, etc. and just assume that malicious (or otherwise) state actors can access cloud services at any time they please.
Veracrypt for the win!
I would disagree with this, provided however that you independently encrypt the data you have on a cloud service, and keep the decryption keys exclusively stored locally. This is especially true in the context of border crossings. In general, you are going to be subject to having electronic devices searched at every border crossing throughout the world, and as the OP points out, in some cases you may be compelled to give up passwords and decryption keys to files stored locally. However, in general (as is the case in the US), your cloud data is not subject to search when you cross boarders.