[Gondring]

That analysis and a subsequent one found some 42 child pornography images, which had been present in the cache used by Romm's Web browser and then deleted. But because in most operating systems, only the directory entry is removed when a file is "deleted," the forensic analysis was able to recover the actual files.

During the trial, Romm's attorney asked that the evidence from the border search be suppressed. The trial judge disagreed. Romm was eventually sentenced to two concurrent terms of 10 and 15 years for knowingly receiving and knowingly possessing child pornography.

Yes, and you can be convicted if you get e-mail spam that contains it and you delete the message as soon as you see what it is. Not saying that's what this case was, but based on others I've looked at, that's happened. :-( Even those who were activists against (e.g., CyberAngels) were in danger of felony convictions. Watch what links you click or what URLs you type--you may become a felon in an instant. :-(

[dennisw]

What you say is true ...... Though in this case this man had a criminal past thus more likely was savoring degenerate kiddie porn photos. But they were deleted which indicates a wish to flush them.

[USF]

Hmmmmm..... I'm actually with you on this one.

I travel in and out of the US with my laptop on numerous occasions, and some of the information on it could be interpreted in different ways.

Besides the point you and other have made about spam email from porn sites, and unknown links that have been clicked in the past there are probably 1001 other things you would prefer the DHS not to see.

Case in point.... I have posed as a jihadi loving muslim to infiltrate islamic sites in the past, and had downloaded and saved some of their material to report to their hosts to get the sites shut down under "acceptable use policy." I've also had a copy of an Al Qaeda training handbook (readily available on the net, and been posted on FReep several times), among other varied terrorist related material, stored on my laptop hard drive as I fly back into the US thru Dulles / Washington DC.

With hindsight, it was probably not the smartest thing to do and I have already removed such material before subsequent trips, but with numerous recovery programs available, we know the chances of any material being rediscovered are high unless I wipe and rewrite over my HD at least 8 - 12 times.

BTW, I also use a couple of commercially available encryption programs to encode and transmit crucial files in email etc, and some files are stored on my computer in heavily encrypted from, which would probably raise even more eyebrows if border checkpoint peoples suspicions were aroused.

Sure, I would expect to be cleared by DHS - eventually - but could really do w/o the hassle it could have caused.

On the other hand, as you travel in and out of countries, most nations border agencies expect to be able to go thru your belongings (even paper files etc - the Dutch and some muslim countries often to inspect paper and cards looking for paper LSD tabs) unless you have a Dip passport and can claim diplomatic immunity from searches. Some nations search thru your belongings with considerable vigor (try China and some of the ex-Soviet 'stans) and will even be prodding the lining of your luggage and inspecting your reading material for verboten/banned "subversive" material.

So basically this problem is one you will encounter at most international borders, it applies to both hard copies and information that's digitally stored.... what's the solution here besides "just don't bring it on you if you don't want the hassle?" Its easier to transmit any info to yourself in other ways using encryption, or take precautions like use a laptop with a clean backup hard drive (mines easily removable for swapping, and I do have a regularly updated, clean, spare).