US sued over border searches of phones and computers

FILE PHOTO: A TSA official removes a laptop from a bag for scanning using the Transport Security Administration's new Automated Screening Lane technology at Terminal 4 of JFK airport in New York City, U.S., May 17, 2017. REUTERS/Joe Penney/File Photo

WASHINGTON: US rights groups sued the government over the increasing use of warrantless searches of cellphones and computers of travellers, including American citizens, arriving at US borders from abroad. 

The American Civil Liberties Union and the Electronic Frontier Foundation sued the Department of Homeland Security and two immigration agencies for searching the personal electronics of 10 US citizens and one permanent resident as they were returning to the country.