Richard Adhikari reports: Border protection agents have extensive rights to search electronic devices that travelers take with them through U.S. ports of entry. However, relatively few searches are actually conducted. Border agencies insist they have no interest in holding up legitimate travelers, but civil liberties groups maintain agencies’ policies on searching electronics are too broad…
Category: Surveillance
UK: Government confirms post-election plans to track public comms
Jennifer Scott reports: The government has confirmed plans that will see all phone calls, text messages, emails and visits to websites by members of the public held in a database for one year, but not until after the general election. Dubbed as a “Big Brother” or snooping scheme by critics, the Intercept Modernisation Programme will…
Obama administration tries to vacate adverse rulings
Kim Zetter of Threat Level reports on how the government’s motion to vacate prior rulings in Horn v. Huddle may seriously impact other pending cases such as al-Haramain v. Obama. In Horn v. Huddle, the government settled a 15-year old lawsuit filed by a former DEA agent who claimed he was subjected to illegal eavesdropping….
UK: Recording call breaches trust but does not break law
A news story by Richard Edwards suggests that the UK does not have the kinds of laws we have here in the U.S. about recording telephone conversations without both parties’ knowledge and consent: Companies and public bodies responsible for private telephone systems are allowed to intercept calls for a wide range of purposes but must…