Feds now arrest your laptops at border

Not content with taking your shoes and confiscating your water, now the Department of Homeland Security is gunning for your laptops.

As the Washington Post reported yesterday, Border Patrol and Customs agents can now "detain" laptops "for a reasonable period of time" to "review and analyze information."

They don't need probable cause under the new policy. Doesn't matter if you're a U.S. citizen or foreign visitor. Officials can hold the laptops indefinitely. Or hard drives, flash drives, cellphones, iPods, pagers, beepers, video and audio tapes. Ditto papers, documents, books, pamphlets, even litter.

"It's not our intent to subject legitimate travelers to undue scrutiny, but to ensure the safety of the American public," wrote Jayson Ahern, U.S. Customs deputy commissioner, in a recent policy paper.

Arguing that border searches of laptops have already uncovered intellectual property rights violations, extremist Jihadist literature, video clips of IEDs and child pornography, he pledged the government would never disclose confidential information "without lawful authority."

The policy has been on the books for awhile, but just confirmed under pressure from civil rights and business groups worried about increasing reports of laptop confiscation.

"Truly alarming," said Sen. Russell D. Feingold (D-Wis.). Added sci-fi blogger Annalee Newit, "Who will defend the rights of the detained laptops?"

-- Johanna Neuman

Photo: Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times.

Comments

[BrianGriffinLovesYou]

Fourth Amendment, anyone?

[warren]

What is next? How much more control does the government need over it's citizens? What happened to our freedoms? They are using all these scare tactics to convince us that we are not safe. Before we know it we will be micro-chipped and everything we do will be monitored. It's beggining to look like Germany in 1939!!!!!!!!

[Mike DeBurgh]

I guess its time to start cloning everything, then encrypting it all.

[caleb]

this policy is deplorable, it's just one more step toward a police step. Also, since when is extremist Jihadist literature or video clips of IEDs illegal to have?

[John Crabtree]

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.

I understand that there is a "border exception" but that was not in the original intent. No exceptions to man's natural rights exist, nor can they be taken away, or shortened, or given "exceptions" by any form of legitimate government.

They found "extremist Jihadist literature"? so if they randomly start searching our homes and find the Qur'an in your home is that extremist jihad literature? and does it matter?

We have a fundamental right to publish, and own documents of any nature, whether the government would like for us to own them or not.

Any society who gives up liberty in exchange for security, will lose both and deserve neither.

[Gdrummond1]

This sounds like something the Soviets or the Nazis would do.

[Henri Usey]

Let's see..

Spanish Inquisition, heretics everywhere!!!

Salem Witch Trials, witches everywhere!!!!

Red Menace Scare, communists everywhere!!!

Homeland Security, terrorists everywhere???

[Cheeseman]

We spend millions on our technology we should not give it away. They get caught, lock them up for life. They want to come over here and enjoy our freedoms. Try to steal them pay the price. If we don't protect our freedom we will not have any . Go USA.

[Dragon Warrior]

This is just ANOTHER reason WHY the US is no longer a real government FOR the people, BY the people and OF the people. This has become a police state nearing that of the cold war USSR, but we are the ones behind the iron curtain.

[lorax]

When will the nightmare that is the Bush Administration end?

[rufus]

oh so alarming for leftist liberals who wish they were french, latimes is just another california loser, between ny and la which is the most pathetic worthless bunch of cowards

[F. Scott Fitzgerald]

How scary is this? "They don't need probable cause under the new policy." Why limit this policy to searches at the border? Why not knock on every home in America, and temporarily confiscate all laptops, desktops, hard drives, literature, in the name of protecting our nation? This is all just downright scary... why there aren't torch-carrying mobs at the Whitehouse each and every night is beyond me!

[Joe Hall]

Is this some kind of joke? We have known about this for at least several years! This is old old news!

[bmrowe23]

This is what happens when you combine lawyers with security goons. It is about as effective as their old question: "Has anyone unknown to you put anything in your luggage?" Well Gee. Let me think. Umm... No? If someone really wanted to move data around, they would just pipe it through a network. Further, any data could be encrypted or hidden. The only reason I see for taking a closer look at a notebook is to see if it is an explosive device. I just want to know are all fascists inherently idiotic? Possibly, they will confiscate my toothpaste. Bad breath should intimidate terrorists.

[Meester Coffee]

So much for probable cause.

[saxnviolins]

They will detain your laptop? How much is the bail?

Can it be released on its own recognizance, that it is a good and reputable brand that contributed to the Bush campaign?

[Concerned citizen]

Somebody should send Washington a copy of the United States Constitution, they seemed to have lost their copy!

[security professional]

dumbest thing ever... like a terrorist wouldn't used all 3 major ciphers with truecrypt.org (AES, serpent, and twofish) all open source and FREE. Then store their information on a Pico USB Flash Drive (8gigs and the size of your fingertip).

Serious... anyone wanting to hide data could hide a TON in their cellphone, inside their watch, inside their wallet... ANYWHERE... or just store it at home and web-serve it via FIOS/Comcast... etc... PLEASE.

[Michael Elison II]

Freedom doesn'nt mean fear. Stop this paranoia. Stop this stupid Bush Administration, time is up.

[Anthony]

"When will the nightmare that is the Bush Administration end?" Not soon enough. These acts are a violation of the American Constitutions, under unreasonable search and seizure.

[Tony Maden]

Watch The Power of Nightmares by Adam Curtis
http://www.archive.org/details/ThePowerOfNightmares

[Zak]

I for one feel much safer. I used to have trouble sleeping at night, but now I know that the border patrol's analyzing data. They've already cracked down on intellectual property violations and found extremist literature. The country's safe now. And if the US is safe, the world is safe. I just hope they know what they're looking for. Catching guys into child porn is all well and good. And, preventing Jihadists from bringing in their propaganda’s great, but there's a more serious threat: Fergie.

Anyone with music by Fergie on their iPhone, iPod, jump drive, laptop, or any other kind of digital storage devise needs to be interrogated. She may seem harmless to you, but I'm certain she's Gua. And, since we're already playing Russian Roulette with civil liberty hoping to preserve the nation, a little bit of polite, restrained torture is reasonable. Aliens are scarier than terrorists. Since, we confiscate the belongings of and question people who may be in possession of data related to a threat that’s a little scary, I say we go all out just in case there really are evil aliens.

Sure, we’re playing Jeffrey Dahmer with our rights, but just imagine how bad it could be if we don’t. Another terrorist attack. People watching films without paying. An alien invasion. It’s worth it, guys. It’s worth it.

[Phil]

If you absolutely must go to the US on business, leave your laptop at home, connect it to a server, rent/borrow a laptop and connect while you are in the US. There is no point in complaining about what the US government does because you can't change it, just work around it. How about you buy a magazine and relax in the airplane, just think about all that email you won't be reading, most of it is cc'd to you anyway and you shouldn't even be reading it but you do because it makes you feel important and wanted. 20 years ago we didn't have laptops or email and we survived just fine.
Alternatively just don't travel. You can solve a lot of things by conference or virtual reality and if you don't travel, you don't create green house gases and your family will thank you for the extra time you get to spend with them.
From a Canadian who travels no more to the US because quite honestly, it is a pain in the arse.

[Joe]

Welcome to the US*SR, circa 1950

[Jay Johnson]

It would be best to encrypt all your documents with 1024+ bit encryption. I don't think they can force you to provide the decryption key as you have the right not to incriminate yourself. The result of this new policy is that fewer people will carry laptops or electronic devices onto planes in fear of having some obscure bit of pirated software. Law-abiding citizens are becoming scared of customs agents who are there to protect them. The situation is not right and ultimately Osama Bin Laden has succeeded in damaging America. He has won and we have lost what he cherish most: our freedom.