united-states privacy massachusetts
Is a security guard at an IRS office legally allowed to demand to see my cell phone?
<p>This is sort of related to <a href="https://law.stackexchange.com/questions/1655/in-the-united-states-when-can-someone-legally-search-my-personal-laptop-gover">this other question</a> but in this case it is about a cell phone and about entering a government (IRS) office.</p>

<p>I visited an IRS field office in Worcester (Massachusetts, USA) a couple of years back and had a somewhat off-putting experience with their security guard asking to see my cell phone. As in, "in order for you to get in here, I want you to hand over your cell phone".</p>

<p>The request seemed a bit weird but as I had a need to talk to IRS personnel, I gave him my phone. The phone was one of those Nokia N900 smart phones. He turned it on, fiddled with the screen a bit (I thought at that time that maybe he was trying to scroll it to see what apps I had on it), and gave it back to me.</p>

<p>This guard was not an official law enforcement person (police officer or sheriff or anything like that) but from some private security company.</p>

<p>Anyway, this experience came up in a discussion later and what I wanted to know is what the U.S. (or MA) law says about requests to see another person's cell phone.</p>

<p>In USA, or MA, would a security guard at an IRS office be legally allowed to demand to see my cell phone?</p>

<p>This sounds like the security official was trying to determine whether your phone was a bomb or not, rather than trying to determine what was on your phone. This is probably legitimate under the circumstances.</p>
