Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden said in a letter to the secretary of the Department of Homeland Security that he is concerned about reports that Customs and Border Patrol agents are pressuring returning Americans into handing over their phone PINs or using their fingerprints to unlock their phones.

See the earlier article at https://goo.gl/8EpKZn for some background information about this issue.

DHS Secretary John Kelly has said that he’s considering the idea of asking visitors for the login data for their various social media accounts, information that typically would require a warrant to obtain. “Circumventing the normal protection for such private information is simply unacceptable,” Wyden said in the letter, sent Monday. “There are well-established procedures governing how law enforcement agencies may obtain data from social media companies and email providers. The process typically requires that the government obtain a search warrant or other court order, and then ask the service provider to turn over the user’s data.”

Details about Senator Wyden’s effort may be found at: https://goo.gl/T86O2a.