possible . '' And Customs and Border Protection officers should keep devices no longer than five days unless there are `` extenuating circumstances . '' Officers with Immigration and Customs Enforcement , the investigative branch of the Homeland Security Department , can keep devices up to 30 days . It also requires border officers to document searches and conduct them in the presence of a supervisor . And it says they should take steps to prevent the unauthorized disclosure of information and share it only with federal agencies `` that have mechanisms in place to protect '' the data . Border officers have long had to deal with issues pitting privacy versus security . But with the proliferation of laptop computers , travelers increasingly are traveling with sensitive information , including confidential legal documents , medical records , credit card and bank information and trade secrets . `` Keeping Americans safe in an increasingly digital world depends on our ability to lawfully screen materials entering the United States , '' Napolitano said in a written statement . `` The new directives ... strike the balance between respecting the civil liberties and privacy of all travelers while ensuring DHS can take
WASHINGTON -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- A new policy sets guidelines for how long U.S. border officials can hold computers and downloaded information seized at checkpoints , and with whom they can share that information . New rules announced Thursday specify border searches to be conducted `` as expeditiously as possible . '' The policy , announced Thursday by Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano , continues to give border officials the authority to search files in travelers ' laptop computers , mobile phones , Blackberrys and similar devices with or without suspicion that a crime has occurred . That is in keeping with long-standing court rulings that say the federal government 's powers of search and seizure are greatest at the border to protect the country . But the new policy also attempts to address complaints from travelers that border officials are needlessly perusing confidential information , downloading it and keeping devices and information indefinitely without any explanation . The policy gives travelers the right to be `` present in the room '' during searches , although they are `` not necessarily ... permitted to witness the search itself . '' It says searches should be conducted `` as expeditiously as