- The Fourth Circuit ruled that manual cell phone searches at U.S. borders require no warrant or suspicion, while forensic searches require individualized suspicion.
- EFF argued that all border device searches should need a warrant based on probable cause, or at least the same Fourth Amendment standard.
- The court distinguished manual from forensic searches based on technical differences, but critics note both are equally invasive of privacy.
- Even brief manual searches can reveal intimate personal data, undermining the court's reliance on the search lasting only two minutes.
- A silver lining: the court left open the possibility that lengthier manual searches might require heightened suspicion, but for now officers can bypass higher standards.