WASHINGTON ¨C The U.S. Transportation Security Administration (TSA) said on Tuesday in response to a lawsuit that it does not search electronic devices of air travelers for content.

The American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Northern California filed a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit last week seeking government documents from the TSA detailing ¡°searches of electronic devices belonging to people traveling on domestic flights.¡±

In 2017, the agency said that it had implemented stronger screening procedures for carry-on items that required passengers to place all electronics larger than a cell phone in bins for X-ray screening. TSA said the screening ¡°is solely intended to verify that there has been no physical tampering or hidden threat placed within the electronic device.¡±

According to a TSA letter on Tuesday sent to the ACLU in response to the lawsuit, the agency said it ¡°does not search electronic devices for electronic content that may be contained on the device, and does not extract data from passenger electronic devices.¡±

A TSA spokesman said the letter ¡°confirms we do not search the contents of electronic devices.¡±

The ACLU of Northern California, which first sought the records in December 2017, said it had received the TSA letter and was considering its next steps.

¡°While TSA says they are not searching the contents of electronic devices, they haven¡¯t provided documents to back that up,¡± said Vasudha Talla, a staff attorney with the ACLU Foundation of Northern California.

The ACLU said in filing the lawsuit that Americans¡¯ phones and laptops contain ¡°very personal information, and the federal government should not be digging through our digital data without a warrant.¡±

Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents do, at times, conduct searches of electronic devices at international border crossings, including airports, without first obtaining a warrant.

The ACLU and Electronic Frontier Foundation in September 2017 sued the Trump administration over the practice in Boston. The government has asked a judge to dismiss the lawsuit.