ABA’s Advice for Border-Crossing Attorneys: Use Burner Devices

Tijuana Border Crossing Traffic by Jay Glavin

It’s no secret that searches of electronic devices at the border are on the rise. After all, the government’s power of search and seizure is “at its zenith” at the border.

So how should lawyers with sensitive client information on laptops and computers handle border crossings?

The ABA recommends leaving devices with sensitive information at home. Instead, lawyers should consider traveling with “burner” devices – that is, computers and phones without sensitive information on them. Lawyers abroad should connect to client files through a VPN (virtual private network).

For now, this is a suggestion. But Fordham Law prof Bruce Green notes that as lawyers become more aware of the risk posed by traveling across border with client information, it may become an ethical violation for lawyers to do so.

As a relatively frequent border crosser myself, I never take a laptop unless necessary. If a laptop is needed, I make sure to take a clean machine without any data on it. I haven’t yet succumbed to the pull of a burner phone, but I also don’t have client data on my mobile device.

-KitJ