After the ACLU filed a lawsuit to force the DHS to make their rules on confiscation of electronic devices clear, the DHS revised its rules and made them public.  They’re not going to make any friends with their decision, but, at least now, we know what the rules are.

The new guidelines are intended to provide more “transparency and accountability” for the laptop searches, said Matt Chandler, DHS spokesman.

The guidelines require CBP to complete a search of an electronic device within five days and ICE to complete a search within 30 days. In addition, agents must take additional steps to inform and educate travelers about the searches, and the DHS Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties will conduct an assessment of the policy’s impact on civil rights within 120 days, Chandler said.

CBP has asserted that it can search all files, including financial documents and Web browsing history, on travelers’ laptops and electronic devices “absent individualized suspicion.” The agency does need probable cause that a crime has been committed to seize a device.

Arbitrary searches at the border are reason enough to learn some security procedures with your electronic devices, particularly laptops.  Ensure that your search history is erased.  Take steps to secure your data and make sure that, if it’s vital to your employment, have other copies of what you need.

Read the directive [pdf] and the tearsheet [pdf] and learn how to secure your data in the event some official at the border wants to rifle through your stuff.