Congress must protect your Constitutional rights by passing the Protect Your Data at the Border Act.

The Fourth Amendment protects US persons from unreasonable searches and seizures. If the government wants to search your electronics they need to get a warrant.

Yet, US law enforcement claims a “border exception” to the Fourth Amendment allows them to search your digital devices at the border, without any suspicion of wrongdoing on your part.

A bipartisan bill introduced in both the Senate and the House would change that. If passed, the Protecting Data at the Border Act would:

• Require law enforcement to get a warrant based on probable cause before it can search a device of a U.S. person at the border;
   
• Prohibit officials from delaying or denying entry to the U.S. if a person declines to hand over passwords, PINs, and social media account information;
   
• Allow for broad emergency exceptions, modeled on the federal wiretap statute and the USA Freedom Act, allowing the government to get a warrant after the fact; and
   
• Require law enforcement to have probable cause before it can seize a device.