U.S. border agents given power to sieze travellers' laptops...

~NeonFire372~

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U.S. authorities now have the power to seize and detain travellers' electronic devices, including laptops and cellphones, and make copies of their contents at an off-site location, under newly disclosed customs policies.

The policy gives border agents at any point of entry into the United States the authority to also take documents, books, pamphlets and hard drives. The items can be seized from anyone crossing the border and may then be copied and shared with other government agencies, according to Department of Homeland Security documents dated July 16.

"Officers may detain documents and electronic devices, or copies thereof, for a reasonable period of time to perform a thorough border search," the policy says. "The search may take place on-site or at an off-site location."

U.S. Senator Russ Feingold told the Washington Post he finds the new policies "alarming" and said he plans to introduce legislation that would make grounds for border searches more rigorous.

Greg Nojeim, senior counsel at the Washington, D.C.-based Center for Democracy and Technology, said the new policies allow authorities to conduct searches without suspicion of wrongdoing.

"They're saying they can rifle through all the information in a traveller's laptop without having a smidgen of evidence that the traveller is breaking the law," he told the Post.

If the authorities find there is not probable cause to hold the seized items, copies must be destroyed, according to the policy. The policy does not outline a timeframe in which materials must be returned.

"These examinations are part of ... long-standing practice and are essential to uncovering vital law-enforcement information," the policy says, noting examinations help authorities detect possible instances of terrorism, narcotics smuggling, child pornography and violations of copyright and trademark laws.
http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2008/08/01/border-searches.html
 
I was considering going back to the US next summer (I spent well over $2000 there this year) but if I have to go through any more bull---- at the border, I'll definitely take my $$$ elsewhere. I loved it there but...ugh.

Flying is such a pain these days... from the guilty until proven innocent to the skyrocketing prices. My experiences with US Customs haven't been that bad - aside from a few stupid questions, everything went smoothly but the thought of having to stand there while some idiot looks through my computer for things that aren't there...then decides he/she is going to seize whatever just because they feel like it, without an ounce of evidence that anything's wrong and hold it for a "reasonable period of time".

I'm sure the CBSA will follow. I'm surprised they weren't first to implement it.
 
What if your laptop hard drive is encrypted?

They'll probably have to send it to someone who knows how to get the information out of it even if its encrypted, which means more time you have to wait to get it back...
 
They'll probably have to send it to someone who knows how to get the information out of it even if its encrypted, which means more time you have to wait to get it back...

If I encrypt it, they can't get the information. Period.

The US Government has no way to crack AES-256.
 
Damn, border security and airline security is getting way outta hand... Someone could still do a ton of damage if they wanted to anyway... Not that hard, as I go places accross the country, I notice all kinds of places someone could attack easily, and make a huge impact on the US...

Airline security is frickin annoying now too!! I had two people almost rip my insulin pump out of me before I convinced them it was medical supplys and it COULD NOT be sent through the X-Ray machine...
 
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