Quote:
Originally Posted by acidzebra
For one thing, "I've got nothing to hide" is a lame response. I also don't do these things, still I have no reason to trust the US government with my and my company's confidential and in some cases sensitive data. And the first thing terrorists and other wrongdoers are doing right now is encrypting their illegal data (especially after that single kiddie porn guy example), so the best possible result of all this is that "honest" citizens are going to be bothered and a lot of time is going to be wasted examining mundane data and devices. Time better spent actually doing something about security.
See also http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.c...ract_id=998565
And dumb luggage is one thing, and data is another. Taking 'any device capable of storing information in digital or analog form,' including hard drives, flash drives, cell phones, iPods, pagers, beepers, and video and audio tapes. They also cover 'all papers and other written documentation,' including books, pamphlets and 'written materials commonly referred to as "pocket trash..." is another thing again.
"Federal agents may take a traveler's laptop or other electronic device to an off-site location for an unspecified period of time without any suspicion of wrongdoing"
I can't believe people are accepting this so meekly. I also don't see why you should expect to get your stuff back, ever. Because they certainly aren't telling you when (if ever) they will return it. How is confiscating stuff regardless of suspicion of wrongdoing (in essence, whatever and whenever the border guard guy feels like screwing with you) reasonable? What if he just has a bad day?
Schneier has an interesting article on it too: http://www.schneier.com/essay-217.html |
Confiscation implies that they are not going to return it. They are allowed to make a copy of what is on the drive(s) ... not to "confiscate" the item.
I understand you are upset about this ... but it appears to me that you have a very poor grasp on the statements made in the official policy. Customs agents everywhere have always had the authority to detain someone that they believe may be smuggling something illegal into a given country.
That is why the materials must be copied within a reasonable period of time and the original device returned to the traveller. You don't for a minute think they are taking the device and just letting the person go?? Get real.
If you are worried about your company's confidental data, then please tell me, what in that data would interest a custom's agent?? You think the custom's agents of the world are going to unite to overthrow your company??
For heaven's sake. If you have that big of a worry about it, then leave it on your computers at home and just electronically transmit it over when you need it. Or, better yet, don't travel to the United States, or any other country that decides to implement a search (search ... not seizure) of data at international borders.
Oh, and by the way .... very bad form to quote from an article. Just because someone writes in an article that "federal agents may .... for an unspecified period ..." doesn't mean it actually says that in the policy. Try reading the actual policy and quoting from that to back up your arguments. Something filtered through a whole bunch of people with an agenda and a position to support just makes your argument a watered down version of theirs.
Your analysis should be able to stand on its own, and that means reference (only) to the source materials, not to some other person's opinions of the source materials.