The Perceived Intrusiveness of Searching Electronic Devices at the Border: An Empirical Study

The Fourth Amendment protects the right of individuals to be "secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures." The recurring question in Fourth Amendment jurisprudence, then, is the reasonableness of a given search in a given context. This Comment analyzes the reasonableness of searches of electronic devices-smartphones, laptops, and tablets-in the context of a border crossing. When a traveler enters the country, whether at an airport or a land border, how much protection should the contents of his or her electronic gadgets be given? Historically, all of a traveler's possessions could be thoroughly searched, even without cause, because Fourth Amendment protections are substantially relaxed at the border. But, given the sheer amount of personal information that can be recovered from a smartphone's text message log or a computer's e-mail archive, is it "reasonable" to give government agents unfettered discretion to search the contents of electronic devices?