According to the Washington Post, officials are allowed to take and examine travelers’ laptops or other electronic devices to an off-site location for an undetermined period of time without suspecting them of unlawful activity, as part of boundary search policies the Department of Homeland Security lately disclosed.

Furthermore, federal agents are entitled to share copies of the laptop's contents with other agencies and private entities for language translation, data decryption or other motives, according to the border search policies, which were released by two agencies under the United States Department of Homeland Security: U.S. Customs and Border Protection and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

As maintained by The DHS officials, the policies are needed to prevent terrorism. They will apply to every person entering the country, U.S. citizens counting among them.

The U.S. government was urged to disclose its procedures due to the fact that many international passengers have complained about their personal belongings, such as laptops, cell phones and other digital devices, been taken for examination and held for months.

The border search policies cover "any device capable of storing information in digital or analog form." This means that hard drives, cell phones, iPods, pagers, video and audio tapes are included. The policies also cover "all papers and other written documentation," including books and "written materials commonly referred to as 'pocket trash' or 'pocket litter.' "