Constitutional Law

Finding a Legal Metaphor for a Laptop

Is a laptop more like a container or a confidant? The New York Times' Adam Liptak examines several court decisions about the standard to apply for searching data on laptops being brought into this country, regardless of whether there is "reasonable suspicion" of wrongdoing.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit held that a computer is a container, and information on it is susceptible to search just like its hard-copy equivalent. A District Court judge in Los Angeles held that computers serve as "an extension of our own memory," and consequently suppressed evidence obtained from a laptop carried overseas.

In light of encryption programs that protect computer data, even if the government has the right to read computer data, can it force the laptop's owner to reveal the password? A Vermont judge answered that it depends on whether a password is analogous to a key to a safe or forcing someone to reveal its combination. 

Full post as published by ACS Blog on January 13, 2008 (boomark / email).