Yesterday, President Trump rolled-back FCC protections designed to stop your internet provider from selling your internet history without your permission. Now ISPs can make a quick buck by selling your data to big business or even the government.  The changes go farther, allowing ISPs to implement new technologies to spy on their users and break the encryption that keeps millions of Americans depend on.

At a time when we spend an expanding part of our lives online, digital privacy is indispensable to our civil rights.  CAIR-Ohio recently helped file a brief in federal court, arguing that a warrant should be needed to search your phone at the border.  

CAIR-Ohio joined the Electronic Frontier Foundation and other leading civil rights organizations to file a brief in federal court, arguing that it is unconstitutional to seize and copy a traveler’s phone at the border without a warrant.  The brief was submitted in U.S. v. Kolsuz, which is on appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.  CBP officials seized Mr. Kolsuz’s phone and conducted two warrantless searches, including “extensive forensic testing.” CAIR-Ohio, the EFF, and other civil rights groups believe that such searches violate travelers’ “dignity and privacy interests,” in clear violation of the Fourth Amendment.

Now, it’s more important than ever to know what tools can keep your internet activity and data private.  No tool is perfect, but helpful tactics include:

• Using encrypted websites whenever available;
• Using privacy optimized search engines and email services;
• Using Virtual Private Networks to protect your internet traffic;
• Securing your phones, computers, and devices with full disk encryption; and
• Contacting your Internet Service Provider and opt-out of having your data collected and distributed as marketing information.

Learn more about your digital pivacy here.

Read our travel tips for entering the country after international travel