Posted on 05/05/2008 9:14:27 AM PDT by Dr. Marten
Tourists visiting the US face even tougher security checks now airport officials can search through mobile phones and laptops.
Guards can download any details contained in the items and keep them indefinitely, following a new court ruling.
The latest legislation could mean lengthier queues as security copy photos, emails and phone records. Visitors already face hour-long waits while armed officers take fingerprints and photos.
(Excerpt) Read more at mirror.co.uk ...
You’ve GOT to be kidding me.
Invade privacy much? This is ridiculous.
Nope. You have no reasonable expectation of privacy at the border, and it is there that the Government’s power is at its zenith.
Ever heard of a slippery slope? How far are we from getting random knocks at the door asking to look at our computers and cell phones to see if we are doing anything illicit.
Just drive across from Mexico, bring ten of your friends, no one will bother you and you might be offered a job.
actually there are differences with CITIZENS vs NON-CITIZENS.
There is case law to the effect of US Citizens do not give up their due process rights at the border. Hence why a US citizen does not go to border detention centers or is excluded from the country. (they are sent to jail pending their bond hearing)
Lets hope the establish a seperate line for laptops then.
I am stunned.
Actually, no I’m not.
This country is toast. And it was killed from within.
May I suggest True Crypt? http://www.truecrypt.org/
If it was killed from within then “toast” was a poor analogy.
why do they need to knock?
according to the police the second you access the internet they ahve a right to warrantless search your computer.
It was not that long ago that the USSC had to shoot down the police using infrared cameras to look inside people’s homes randomly. The policeman’s job is easy in a police state. They want a police state or as close as possible to a police state. (even popular shows like law and order promote the notion that police and prosecutorial misconduct is ok because they are going after bad guys)
I approve of this measure.
The first step in keeping out the invaders is keeping out their tools. Just think about how much is to be gained with the cell phone directory of a terrorist. Does his laptop have plans for bombs or lists of possible targets?
And the sheeple will continue to bleat "if you've got nothing to hide, then why worry..."
Somebody needs to put a stop to this enormous government takeover of individual rights. Searching laptops and cell phones is beyond the pale. Either issue a search warrant or hands off people and their possessions.
LOL - perhaps "microwaved" would be the better term.
An appendium to the court ruling stipulates that the only acceptable operating system on entering laptops is Microsoft Vista. Laptops having other operating systems may be left at the border awaiting pickup on traveler’s departure. A fresh install of Vista will be conducted by trained TSA minimum wage professionals in the interim, after a full archive of the laptop’s original contents is completed by DHS. Microsoft and the Federal Government are glad to be of assistance to the visiting traveler.
While encrypting your files is no doubt legal. I suspect that if you tried to come across the border with encrypted data there would be many problems.
In theory you have Rights. In practice the Gov can do a lot to make your life hell.
The "fight the terrorists" excuse has worn thin already from overuse.
“Just think about how much is to be gained with the cell phone directory of a terrorist.”
I’m not a terrorist. Why do they need my phone?
I know, I know, we’ll all be safer. Just think how much safer we’d all be if the Gov just listened in to every phone call and read every email and snailmail letter! I would feel really safe then. Wow, even listening devices in our homes and cars. Just think about it. So much safety! I can’t wait.
Is your post sarcasm? Or is that true about operating systems?
True Crypt claims the capability of creating hidden volumes that are indistinguishable from random data.
You think foreign countries like france which have a LOOOOONG history of using government for industrial espionage are not going to do this already?
This is not about non-citizens, according the the 9th Circuit. The case surrounds a man named “Michael Arnold,” who apparently returned home to the mainland after visiting the Phillipines in May 2005.
More here:
And here:
I find this policy a slap in the face of liberty.
I haven’t heard that, but Microsoft does provide special tools to law enforcement to pull sensitive information from such portables:
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/04/30/ms_forensics_usb/
You approve of this measure? It’s a complete waste of resources.
Said terrorist doesn’t need a whole computer to store any of that information. It will all fit - with gobs of room to spare - in a single portable storage device that can be easily hidden. I have a 2GB “Micro SD” card which is no bigger than my smallest fingernail and can be creatively “lost” within my luggage, yet with a tiny USB adapter (occupied by another “innocent” card while travelling) I can boot any modern PC from it, including full operating system to access a “hard-encrypted” library of info.
Like most other TSA measures, this one is designed to stop something with trivially-circumvented measures, wasting millions of dollars and lifetimes of man-hours to find something which can be reliably hidden via a $10 purchase from buy.com!
There are a quarter-million files on my notebook computer. Good luck trying to figure out which one, IF there is one, contains encrypted data ... and that's assuming I haven't tried to hide it any more than merely giving it a suitable name in a suitable directory.
When going through customs with a laptop, customs officials will sometimes turn on the computer or have you turn on the computer to make sure that is is a working laptop and not just a shell in which goods are being smuggled.
They will sometimes click on a file to make sure the laptop actually works as a laptop.
In this case they clicked on a file and it happened to contain kiddie porn.
The suspect argued to the courts that they had no right to search his computer for kiddie porn. The court ruled that checking the computer was not significantly different than going through his luggage looking for contraband.
The moral of the story is if you want to stay out of jail, don't smuggle illegal goods across the border.
If you cross the border, the government's agents can search you and your possessions without a warrant.
I guess you can encrypt your hard drive, but if you do and the authorities feel they have reason to believe you have something illegal on your hard drive, they will likely either demand you give them access or confiscate your laptop until they are able to gain access to the files on their own.
Note that this is not on domestic flights. This is for international arrivals.
They aren't going to do checks on every person entering the US. They don't have time to do that. However, they will do random screening and check people they feel are suspicious.
I cross the border a couple times a month by car, and have flown across the border a number of times. I've never been hassled coming into the US.
You miss the point.
I could smuggle a contraband ham sandwich from Mexico in my underpants but if they caught me I would be in trouble.
It’s not about getting away with something.
Not far. They're already doing it with registered sex offenders. Without court order.
Practice the bent-over stance. You'll need it.
Better to detain and interrogate anyone from certain middle eastern countries and belonging to a certain death cult.
This is an invasion of privacy.
WHOA! From where I’m sitting THAT’S weird. 8-)
I seem to recall a case recently where someone was ordered to decrypt material, and jailed when he refused.
Well, if there's a slippery slope, it's not very slippery or very steep. This is exactly the same level of power that Customs has always had and probably will always have over travelers crossing the border into the U.S. So far it hasn't had any effect on police powers exercised within the U.S. They're two very different things.
Customs has always had the power to fully inspect anything and everything they wish at a border crossing. They can legally tear apart luggage, packages, upholstery on vehicles or totally dismantle them if they choose. It's not new, and it's not a bad thing. It's an essential thing. If Customs had to make a probable cause case for every search they do, it would effectively shut them down. It would be impossible for them to do anything.
They're not going to be downloading the entire contents of every laptop and thumb drive. They don't have the time or inclination, or frankly the ability to deal with that much data. They don't need to do all of that. But they do need the right to do it when they think it may be useful or when they inadvertantly discover something.
This is merely updating the same powers for a new age and new technology. It's a good thing, and it in no way means that local police can do it too. Customs power is specifically addressed in law and has no effect on police powers within the country with regard to the 4th amendment.
What happened to this traveler is that customs officials will sometimes ask you to turn on your laptop to make sure it is a laptop and not just a shell that contains some form of contraband. They then click on a random icon and make sure it is a working laptop. In this case the file the randomly clicked on happened to contain kiddie porn.
They weren't spending a lot of time digging through everyone's laptops. They just happened to get lucky an open the right file on the right guy's laptop.
The question then became do they have the right to perform such a search, or should the evidence be tossed out. The court determined that looking at files on the laptop was not significantly different than going through your luggage at the border. If it is legal to go through your bags, why not your laptop?
In this case they weren't searching his laptop for kiddie porn, they just happened to stumble across it.
Like most other TSA measures, this one is designed to stop something with trivially-circumvented measures, wasting millions of dollars and lifetimes of man-hours to find something which can be reliably hidden via a $10 purchase from buy.com!
I have a 2GB “Micro SD” card which is no bigger than my smallest fingernail and can be creatively “lost” within my luggage, yet with a tiny USB adapter (occupied by another “innocent” card while travelling) I can boot any modern PC from it, including full operating system to access a “hard-encrypted” library of info.
An considering that the weren't actually searching his laptop but checking it's functionality when they stumbled across the kiddie porn, a thumb drive would have worked well for hiding it in this case. Just about any effort would have hidden it in this case.
This article's hypothetical scenario of how the customs officials might use this authority doesn't resemble what the authorities are actually doing.
It does appear that they have the authority to search your computer or phone, but if your argument is that they shouldn't waste their time, I think they've already figured that out. They don't just stop everyone at the border and delve through the contents of their laptop and their phone memory.
Within two years...it’ll be common on interstates for cops not only asking to examine your car, but then they want to examine your laptop, your PDA, your Cellphone, and your USB stick. You will sitting there, and wondering how and when this started...and maybe even argue with the guy. Every step of the way....this was always part of the Bush administration plan to bring big government into your home and private affairs. The amusing thing...is that I can transfer massive files across the internet....encypted....and the cops are sitting there on some lake with their fancy speedboat they got with a homeland security grant to protect the local dam...yet they use the boat to give out tickets to local drunks on the lake.
Right. Saw that story.
Cute! Now unscare everybody.
They succeeded beyond their wildest dreams.
Of course, they would not have if all muslims had been repatriated immediately, and no others allowed in until 2101...
I should add... better late than never.
*yawn*
After all comrade, if you have done nothing wrong you have nothing to hide!
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