Technology
US border agents must get warrant before searching cellphones, federal court rules
A federal district court in New York has ruled that U.S. border agents must obtain a warrant before searching the electronic devices of Americans and travelers crossing the U.S. border.
The July 24 ruling is the most recent court opinion difficult the U.S. government’s long-standing legal argument that federal border agents should have the ability to access travelers’ devices at ports of entry, comparable to airports, seaports and land borders, with out a court order.
Civil rights groups that defended the ruling praised the decision.
“The ruling makes clear that border patrol agents need a warrant before they can access what the Supreme Court has called ‘the window into a person’s life,’” said Scott Wilkens, senior counsel on the Knight First Amendment Institute, considered one of the groups that brought the case. in a press release from Friday.
The district court ruling applies to the Eastern District of New York, which incorporates New York-area airports comparable to John F. Kennedy International Airport, considered one of the most important transportation hubs within the United States.
A spokesman for U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the agency chargeable for border security, didn’t reply to a request for comment outside business hours.
The court’s ruling concerns a criminal case involving Kurbanali Sultanov, a U.S. citizen whose phone was seized by border agents at JFK Airport in 2022 and asked for a password, which Sultanov did when officers told him he had no alternative. Sultanov later moved to suppress evidence — allegedly child sexual abuse footage — taken from his phone, arguing that the search violated his Fourth Amendment rights.
The U.S. border is a legally opaque space where foreign travelers have almost no right to privacy, and Americans may also face intrusive searches. The U.S. government has unique powers and authority on the border, comparable to conducting warrantless searches of devices that law enforcement normally cannot use against someone who has entered the U.S. without first convincing a judge of sufficient suspicion to justify a search.
Critics have argued for years that such searches are unconstitutional and violate the Fourth Amendment, which protects against unreasonable searches and seizure of an individual’s electronic devices.
In that ruling, the judge relied partly on a friend-of-the-court temporary filed on behalf of the defendants, arguing that unreasonable border searches also violate the First Amendment because they create an “unreasonably high” risk of a chilling effect on press activity and journalists’ border crossings.
The judge within the case cited a friend-of-the-court temporary filed by the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University and the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, adding that the court “also shares (the groups’) concerns about the impact of warrantless searches of electronic devices at the border on other First Amendment freedoms — freedom of speech, religion, and association.”
The judge said that if the court accepted the federal government’s argument that border checks of devices don’t require any suspicion, “political opposition targets (or their colleagues, friends or families) would need to pass through an international airport only once for the government to gain unfettered access to the most ‘intimate window into a person’s life.’” The latter cited an earlier U.S. Supreme Court ruling on cellphone privacy.
Although the court found that the warrantless search of Sultanov’s phone was unconstitutional, it also found that the federal government acted in good faith on the time of the search and denied Sultanov’s motion to suppress evidence from his phone.
It isn’t yet known whether federal prosecutors will appeal the choice to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, which incorporates New York.
According to CBP’s own dataThe Federal Border Agency carried out greater than 41,700 device checks on foreign travellers in 2023.
Lawmakers have long tried to plug a loophole in border search laws by creating laws that may require U.S. law enforcement officers to acquire a warrant to go looking devices on the border. The bipartisan laws ultimately failed, but legislators haven’t given up on ending this practice entirely.
Given that multiple federal courts have ruled on border searches lately, the query of their legality will likely find yourself before the Supreme Court if lawmakers don’t act more quickly.
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Revolutthe London-based fintech unicorn shared several elements of the corporate’s 2025 roadmap at a company event in London on Friday. One of the corporate’s important goals for next yr will be to introduce an AI-enabled assistant that will help its 50 million customers navigate financial apps, manage money and customize software.
Considering that artificial intelligence is at the middle of everyone’s attention, this move shouldn’t be surprising. But an AI assistant could actually help differentiate Revolut from traditional banking services, which have been slower to adapt to latest technologies.
When Revolut launched its app almost 10 years ago, many individuals discovered the concept of debit cards with real-time payment notifications. Users may lock the cardboard from the app.
Many banks now can help you control your card using your phone. However, they’re unlikely to supply AI features that might be useful yet.
In addition to the AI assistant, Revolut announced that it will introduce branded ATMs to the market. These will end in money being spent (obviously), but in addition cards – which could encourage latest sign-ups.
Revolut said it plans so as to add facial recognition features to its ATMs in the longer term, which could help with authentication without using the same old card and PIN protocol. It will be interesting to see the way it implements this technology in a way that complies with European Union data protection regulations, which require explicit consent to make use of biometric data for identification purposes.
According to the corporate, Revolut ATMs will start appearing in Spain in early 2025.
Revolut has had a banking license in Europe for a while, which implies it may offer lending products to its retail customers. It already offers bank cards and personal loans in some countries.
Now the corporate plans to expand into mortgage loans – some of the popular lending products in Europe – with an emphasis on speed. If it’s an easy request, customers should generally expect immediate approval and a final offer inside one business day. However, mortgages are rarely easy, so it will be interesting to see if Revolut overpromises.
It appears that the mortgage market rollout will be slow. Revolut said it was starting in Lithuania, with Ireland and France expected to follow suit. Although all these premieres are scheduled for 2025.
Finally, Revolut intends to expand its business offering in Europe with its first loan products and savings accounts. In the payments space, it will enable business customers to supply “buy now, pay later” payment options.
Revolut will introduce Revolut kiosks with biometric payments especially for restaurants and stores.
If all these features seem overwhelming, it’s because Revolut is consistently committed to product development, rolling out latest features quickly. And 2025 looks no different.
Flipkart co-founder Binny Bansal has stepped down three-quarters from PhonePe’s board after making an identical move on the e-commerce giant.
Bengaluru-based PhonePe said it has appointed Manish Sabharwal, executive director at recruitment and human resources firm Teamlease, as an independent director and chairman of the audit committee.
Bansal played a key role in Flipkart’s acquisition of PhonePe in 2016 and has since served on the fintech’s board. The Walmart-backed startup, which operates India’s hottest mobile payment app, spun off from Flipkart in 2022 and was valued at $12 billion in funding rounds that raised about $850 million last 12 months.
Bansal still holds about 1% of PhonePe. Neither party explained why they were leaving the board.
“I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to Binny Bansal for being one of the first and staunchest supporters of PhonePe,” Sameer Nigam, co-founder and CEO of PhonePe, said in a press release. His lively involvement, strategic advice and private mentoring have profoundly enriched our discussions. We will miss Binny!”
Forget about cold baths. Washing machines for people may soon be a brand new solution.
According to at least one Japanese the oldest newspapersOsaka-based shower head maker Science has developed a cockpit-shaped device that fills with water when a bather sits on a seat in the center and measures an individual’s heart rate and other biological data using sensors to make sure the temperature is good. “It also projects images onto the inside of the transparent cover to make the person feel refreshed,” the power says.
The device, dubbed “Mirai Ningen Sentakuki” (the human washing machine of the longer term), may never go on sale. Indeed, for now the company’s plans are limited to the Osaka trade fair in April, where as much as eight people will have the option to experience a 15-minute “wash and dry” every day after first booking.
Apparently a version for home use is within the works.
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