US uses little-known customs provision to obtain journalists’ private data

The US administration has used a little-known legal loophole to obtain access to the personal data of journalists, media representatives and civil society organizations without a court order, the British newspaper The Guardian reports.

According to the outlet, the US Department of Homeland Security has repeatedly invoked Section 1509 of Title 19 of the US Code, a customs provision, to obtain private data belonging to journalists, nonprofit organizations and labor unions.

The provision is specifically related to customs enforcement and allows the authorities to issue administrative requests when there are doubts about the proper payment of customs duties and related taxes. No court ruling is required; an internal decision by the department is sufficient.

The Department of Homeland Security used the provision to obtain from mobile operator T-Mobile six months of telephone communications records belonging to Minneapolis-based journalist Georgia Fort, including 10,000 calls and text messages, the report added.

Fort was not aware that the data had been obtained and had no opportunity to challenge the request. At the same time, a similar request was sent to Google, which did not comply, saying it found no connection to customs matters.

The Guardian reported that the US administration turned to this tactic after a court in February denied federal prosecutors access to data belonging to Fort and another American journalist, Don Lemon. Both journalists pleaded not guilty to criminal charges related to a protest at a church in Minneapolis in January, which they had been covering.

By Jeyhun Aghazada