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Under recently disclosed Department of Homeland Security policies, such seizures may be carried out without suspicion of wrongdoing, The Washington Post claims, quoting policies issued on 16 July by two DHS agencies.

Agents are empowered to share the contents of seized computers with other agencies and private entities for data decryption

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and other reasons, the newspaper claims.

DHS officials claim the policies applied to anyone entering the country, including US citizens, and were needed to prevent terrorism.

The measures have long been in place but were only disclosed in July, under pressure from civil-liberties and business-travel groups acting on reports that increasing numbers of international travellers had had their laptops, mobile phones and other digital devices removed and examined.

The policies cover hard drives, flash drives, cell phones, iPods, pagers, beepers, and video and audio tapes - as well as books, pamphlets and other written materials, the report says.

The policies require federal agents to take measures to protect business information and attorney-client privileged material. They stipulate that any copies of the data must be destroyed when a review is completed and no probable cause exists to keep the information.