The US government "has agreed to destroy all data" Homeland Security agents obtained in a border search of a Bradley Manning supporter, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) announced yesterday.

The settlement (PDF) arises from a November 2010 search of David House when he was reentering the US after a vacation. House is a "human rights activist" who was working with an organization raising money for the legal defense of Manning, a US soldier who admitted to leaking documents to WikiLeaks, the ACLU said.

"Department of Homeland Security agents stopped House at O'Hare International Airport in Chicago and questioned him about his political activities and beliefs," the ACLU said. "They then confiscated his laptop, camera, and USB drive, which contained information identifying members and supporters of the Bradley Manning Support Network. The government copied House’s cell phone at the airport and held his laptop and other devices for 49 days. The data taken from House’s materials was then turned over to the US Army Criminal Investigation Division (CID), which concluded that it would not use the information."

House sued the federal government with the assistance of the ACLU. He said the seizure put the personally identifying information of Manning's financial contributors at risk. Last year, a federal judge denied the government's motion to dismiss the case.

The settlement between House and the Department of Justice contains no admission of wrongdoing. "Nothing in this Agreement or the affidavit affects the authority or discretion of the Defendants to engage in any screening, inspection, search, detention, or seizure on any basis whatsoever, and Mr. House may continue to be subject to lawful searches and inspections," the settlement states.

The document thus imposes no limitations on future searches. But the ACLU counts it as a victory for Fourth Amendment rights. “The government’s sweeping claim that it can search through our electronics at the border for any reason or no reason at all is flatly contradicted by the Fourth Amendment, which protects us from unreasonable searches and seizures,” ACLU Staff Attorney Catherine Crump said in the organization's announcement. "The tremendous amount of personal and business information that we can now easily carry around with us means that respecting the Fourth Amendment in all places—including the border—is more important than ever.”

Figures cited by the ACLU when it began aiding House indicate that in 2009, border searches resulted in 2,204 searches of digital media, 105 people being detained without any stated grounds for reasonable suspicion, and the seizures of 115 devices.

Besides destroying all copies of data obtained from House's devices, "[t]he government will also hand over numerous documents, including reports describing Army CID’s inspection of House’s data as well as the DHS 'Lookout' telling agents to stop House as he entered the country," the ACLU said. "The government further agreed to release reports on DHS agents’ questioning of House, which included inquiries about whether he knew anything about Manning giving classified information to WikiLeaks."

House is also a computer vision researcher and former information economics systems developer at MIT. House called the settlement "a victory through vital action not only for the citizens put at risk, but also for anyone who believes that Americans should be free to support political causes without fearing retaliation from Washington.”