Source: Tom's Guide | Keywords: DHS, Laptop, Confiscate, Border | Themes: Business, Business Notebooks
Next time you’re going to pack up your stuff and head south for the winter, or indeed anywhere for the winter, you might want to double check you don’t have any questionable content on your laptop, iPod, cellphone or any other gadget you’re insisting on dragging with you on holidays.
According to a report in the Washington Post, U.S. federal agents can now kidnap any device capable of storing information (including hard drives, flash drives, your cellphone, MP3 player, Kindle, pager, and any books or documents you happen to have lying around) for “a reasonable amount of time.”
Not only can the Department of Homeland Security seize your laptop and take it to some place far, far away to pick through your files, but it can also share your data with other federal agencies or private entities for language translation, data decryption or, and this one is our personal favourite, “other reasons.”
What most people have a problem with, is that these searches can be carried out even if you’re not acting in the slightest bit shifty. Customs can seize your property without any suspicion of wrongdoing.
The policies, which have been in place for quite some time, were only disclosed to the public following an increasing number of complaints about laptops, cellphones and other electronic devices being confiscated for long periods of time and affect anyone entering the United States, U.S. citizens included.
Click here to read the full Washington Post report.
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This is likely illegal and very likely violates the Constitution of the United States. An arbitrary government entity has created an arbitrary rule without basis in the rule of law. Such seizures and searches should require a warrant at the very least.
The constitution? Feh - who cares about the consitution when there's terrists about!
Psimitry, I hope you're just trying to be a clever troll and don't actually believe that.
He's obviously being sarcastic
This is really disgusting. I especially like the "other reasons" as well. Maybe DHS can team up with some data mining companies and improve their "targeted advertisements" with your personal information... I'm waiting for someone to come out and say "IP theft is terrorism". I'm sure that what the "other reasons" are. I never bought the government conspiracy BS surrounding 9/11, but with all the new-found power being doled out and "McCarthyism" like terrorism protections being instituted, I'm thinking about it.
Several security organisations have been warning business travellers for a while now to either take a clean-drive laptop with them or buy a cheap laptop in-country, then load their VPN client and download what they need from their home server. Many overseas business people just prefer not to go to the US at all because of all of the hassle.
Several business conventions are no longer staged in the US at all, as the attendance is now below break-even.
Many overseas business people just prefer not to go to the US at all because of all of the hassle.Several business conventions are no longer staged in the US at all, as the attendance is now below break-even.
This is fantastic, because our economy is currently in such great shape!!!!
Wow, the home of the free huh?
This is totally wrong. Customs should have to obey laws just like everyone else. China is easing up on their snooping during the Olympics, but the US seems to be increasing their totalitarianism.