The Department of Homeland Security is routinely searching laptops at airports when Americans re-enter the United States from abroad. The government then pores over or copies the laptop’s contents  including financial records, medical data and e-mail messages. These out-of-control searches trample the privacy rights of Americans, and Congress should rein them in.

There have been widespread reports of the government searching  and often seizing  laptops, BlackBerrys, iPhones and other portable electronic devices at airports. It is not clear how often these searches occur, and the government will not say. The Association of Corporate Travel Executives says that of 100 people who responded to a survey it conducted this year, 7 said they had had a laptop or other electronic device seized.

This goes well beyond examining a piece of luggage. Because of the enormous amount of private information people keep on their laptops, the searches are more akin to rifling through someone’s home and reading every letter, financial record and personal journal.

At a Senate hearing last month, civil liberties, civil rights and business groups testified about the harm the program is doing. Some groups have additional concerns. Businesses object that their trade secrets are being jeopardized. Lawyers and journalists say the government should not have access to their confidential communications with clients and sources. Muslims contend that they are being singled out for particularly intrusive searches.