Posted on 08/01/2008 12:07:42 PM PDT by southlake_hoosier
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has concocted a remarkable new policy: It reserves the right to seize for an indefinite period of time laptops taken across the border.
A pair of DHS policies from last month say that customs agents can routinely--as a matter of course--seize, make copies of, and "analyze the information transported by any individual attempting to enter, re-enter, depart, pass through, or reside in the United States." (See policy No. 1 and No. 2.)
DHS claims the border search of electronic information is useful to detect terrorists, drug smugglers, and people violating "copyright or trademark laws." (Readers: Are you sure your iPod and laptop have absolutely no illicitly downloaded songs? You might be guilty of a felony.)
This is a disturbing new policy, and should convince anyone taking a laptop across a border to use encryption to thwart DHS snoops. Encrypt your laptop, with full disk encryption if possible, and power it down before you go through customs.
Here's a guide to customs-proofing your laptop that we published in March.
It's true that any reasonable person would probably agree that Customs agents should be able to inspect travelers' bags for contraband. But seizing a laptop and copying its hard drive is uniquely invasive--and should only be done if there's a good reason.
Sen. Russell Feingold, a Wisconsin Democrat, called the DHS policies "truly alarming" and told the Washington Post that he plans to introduce a bill that would require reasonable suspicion for border searches.
But unless Congress changes the law, DHS may be able to get away with its new rules. A U.S. federal appeals court has ruled that an in-depth analysis of a laptop's hard drive using the EnCase forensics software "was permissible without probable cause or a warrant under the border search doctrine."
At a Senate hearing in June, Larry Cunningham, a New York prosecutor who is now a law professor, defended laptop searches--but not necessarily seizures--as perfectly permissible. Preventing customs agents from searching laptops "would open a vulnerability in our border by providing criminals and terrorists with a means to smuggle child pornography or other dangerous and illegal computer files into the country," Cunningham said.
The new DHS policies say that customs agents can, "absent individualized suspicion," seize electronic gear: "Documents and electronic media, or copies thereof, may be detained for further review, either on-site at the place of detention or at an off-site location, including a location associated with a demand for assistance from an outside agency or entity."
Outside entity presumably refers to government contractors, the FBI, and National Security Agency, which can also be asked to provide "decryption assistance." Seized information will supposedly be destroyed unless customs claims there's a good reason to keep it.
An electronic device is defined as "any device capable of storing information in digital or analog form" including hard drives, compact discs, DVDs, flash drives, portable music players, cell phones, pagers, beepers, and videotapes.
Think of it as the “fairness Doctrine” for computers.
My kid downloaded a dozen songs illegally to my laptop to put on his ipod. I am now at risk.
Well at least they should snag the foreign laptops coming across to do the computing American laptops refuse to do.
You are at risk if you can not prove that every piece of software on your notebook computer, iPod, or other digital device, as well as every music file, every movie clip, and every piece of digital data in your possession is legally licensed, that you are in full compliance with the applicable licenses, that you are the legal owner of the licenses, and that any and all applicable data is acceptable for export subject to U.S. law.
More police-state fascism from DHS “for our protection”. Meanwhile, they cannot rustle up their army of highschool dropouts to take a momentary glance at 95% of the shipping containers entering the country.
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures , shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue , but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.
“would open a vulnerability in our border by providing criminals and terrorists with a means to smuggle child pornography or other dangerous and illegal computer files into the country,”
I hope nobody tells this guy about the new fangled internets thing.
I think I’d rather lose my computer for awhile than have a bunch of innocent Americans killed in a terrorist attack.
This is starting to get a little ridiculous. Tomorrow it’ll be a little worse. The day after that a little worse. Eventually we won’t recognize our liberties and when we want them back, it’ll be too late. I pray I’m just being paranoid.
You’ll get my laptop when you pry it from my cold dead fingers.! ! ! !
Laptops can be used to kill Americans?
If they want to snoop, make it hurt. Fill the laptop up with weird sounding file/doc names and dump the foulest shock imagery the world has ever seen into it. Make sure everyone who actually looks at it doesn’t sleep for the next 10 years.
DHS claims the border search of electronic information is useful to detect terrorists, drug smugglers, and people violating “copyright or trademark laws.”
Those dang music downloading terrorists /sarc
You just made the list, buddy.
None of which I can prove...although none is in violation as far as I know.
Those dang music downloading terrorists /sarc
The RIAA Check cleared.
Nice to see the McDonald's employees in uniforms can go gift shopping. Guess who will be getting laptops for Christmas?
Is this good or bad?
“It reserves the right to seize for an indefinite period of time laptops taken across the border.
“
And just what part of personal property and unlawful search and seizure do they not understand??
It would be nice to know the justification for seizing laptops at border checkpoints. It sounds arbitrary and bureaucratic to just say that laptops will be searched and seized without a warrant, without probable cause.
Searching for copyright infringement and illegally downloaded songs and software should not be a concern of those guarding our borders.
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