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January 7, 2008
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If Your Hard Drive Could Testify ...
By ADAM LIPTAK

A couple of years ago, Michael T. Arnold landed at the Los Angeles International Airport after a 20-hour flight from the Philippines. He had his laptop with him, and a customs officer took a look at what was on his hard drive. Clicking on folders called ?Kodak pictures? and ?Kodak memories,? the officer found child pornography.

The search was not unusual: the government contends that it is perfectly free to inspect every laptop that enters the country, whether or not there is anything suspicious about the computer or its owner. Rummaging through a computer?s hard drive, the government says, is no different than looking through a suitcase.

One federal appeals court has agreed, and a second seems ready to follow suit.

There is one lonely voice on the other side. In 2006, Judge Dean D. Pregerson of Federal District Court in Los Angeles suppressed the evidence against Mr. Arnold.

?Electronic storage devices function as an extension of our own memory,? Judge Pregerson wrote, in explaining why the government should not be allowed to inspect them without cause. ?They are capable of storing our thoughts, ranging from the most whimsical to the most profound.?

Computer hard drives can include, Judge Pregerson continued, diaries, letters, medical information, financial records, trade secrets, attorney-client materials and ? the clincher, of course ? information about reporters? ?confidential sources and story leads.?

But Judge Pregerson?s decision seems to be headed for reversal. The three judges who heard the arguments in October in the appeal of his decision seemed persuaded that a computer is just a container and deserves no special protection from searches at the border. The same information in hard-copy form, their questions suggested, would doubtless be subject to search.

Read The Whole story Here...

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RevengeBucks_Monica

The first time I travelled for a long term trip to Mexico, I made sure I did a big cleanup on my computer, even removing any software that wasn't properly licensed, and getting rid of all extra files just in case. I wanted my laptop to be squeaky clean so that nothing that was none of their business would be seen should they decide to peek at my computer.

And I'm not a US citizen, I was just stopping on my way through.

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seeric

and they do.

everytime i come back into the country they pretty much body cavity search me.

no idea why.

a friend of mine in u.s. customs told me its because i used to have a top secret clearance in the military.

JuiceMonkey

I've traveled with people who have gotten their laptops checked. It really is getting out hand.

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D

I think a snippet from last night's episode of The Simpsons pretty much sums up a lot of this crap lately...

'Lisa: What about the Constitution?

Bart: I'm pretty sure that was replaced by the Patriot Act in order to protect our freedoms.'

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OG LennyT

You're right, we should go back to the way it was before 9/11.

oh wait....

there's always Greyhound.

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Socks

I wonder if you encrypt your data if they can seize it, copy it, keep the laptop to unencrypt it etc?

You can easily put things into an encrypted "container" on a HD, so is that just another container too?

igotmeg

I've traveled in and out of the country quite a few times with mine and other then going through the x-ray in it's own container it has never left my bag.
But maybe because I am a young white female. Who knows..?

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pornguy

I think at some point they are breaching the reasonable right to privacy. What sucks is that it is going to be a long court battle to win that.

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ronaldo

I figured that was common knowledge. But unless the inspectors have gotten any smarter it wouldn't matter anyways. When they searched mine, coming back into Canada that is, they didn't even know how to turn the thing on...let alone find anything incriminating. Not that they would have.

What an idiot THIS guy is though, geez...

The government went even further in the case of Sebastien Boucher, a Canadian who lives in New Hampshire. Mr. Boucher crossed the Canadian border by car about a year ago, and a customs agent noticed a laptop in the back seat.

Asked whether he had child pornography on his laptop, Mr. Boucher said he was not sure. He said he downloaded a lot of pornography but deleted child pornography when he found it.


He should be arrested for his own safety as he sounds too stupid to be just walking around without harming himself.

RevengeBucks_Monica

I've heard they can actually decide to keep your laptop and send you on your way without it until they are done checking it out.

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L-Pink

The tube-top probably didn't hurt

Casa Nova

That's ridiculous.My laptop is a private thing to me and if anyone was to look through it I would flip.

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Socks

When I was taking a bus to Mexico City from Toronto (yes, I did it, 3.5 days) the guy at the Detroit border read EVERY PAGE of my notebook. He spent a good 10 minutes flipping through it. He asked me questions like "why did you write this" "who is this person" "why did you write their phone number" "what if I called this number right now" "what's all this porn stuff" etc etc etc.

Then he proceeded to tell me I didn't have enough money. He asked how much money I had in my bank account. He asked me what the limit is on my visa. How much ROOM I HAD LEFT on my visa.. He said "I can't trust that this isn't maxed out"....

He then told me I would never make it to Mexico, I would surely not get through the Mexican border, and that I would be "roughed up" when I got into Mexico.

I did my best to just keep quiet and let him be an idiot, I just wanted to get past.

igotmeg

My friend asked if i didn't have anything to hide why would it matter. well what if i did have something to hide but like the judge said, trade secrets, medical info,, private photos, etc. who's business is that. nothing illegal or wrong with those secrets yet they could ruin a person if exposed. and the chances of catching a terrorist from a laptop entering the country is probably slimmer then an astroid smashing into earth tomorrow morning unnoticed.

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uno

They'll let ANYONE into mexico.

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Socks

lol tell me about it, when I got to the mexican border I walked through, and they asked me to open my suitcase.. I pulled the zipper maybe a foot, they saw a pair of socks, and said go ahead :D

baddog

Funny how they seem to pick the laptops that have illegal stuff on them.

I did not even get a second look when I came back from EU. Made me mad that I did not try to bring something back.

baddog

People yes, contraband not so much. I got a little worried when I went there for WYPD in 2006.

escorpio

They're only looking for guns. I've crossed hundreds of times and never been stopped or questioned once.

media

You're lucky you didnt become a kidnap express victim... I'm not kidding if he asked you questions like that...

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Express kidnapping (Spanish: secuestro express), is a method of abduction used in some countries, mainly from Latin America[1], where a small ransom, that a company or family can easily pay, is requested. It is most common in Mexico, Colombia, and Brazil.[2] It was frequent in Argentina following its political and economic crisis in 2001.[3]. ATM abductions, where the victim is forced to withdraw money from his or her account, are common in many urban areas of Mexico, Venezuela, Peru, and Brazil.[2] Express kidnappings have been known of in the US since at least July 30, 1986 when US Representative Mario Biaggi proposed having all ATM networks reprogrammed to recognize than an alternate, emergency PIN had been used to withdraw the cash. (US Congressional Record, July 30, 1986, pp 18232)

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baddog

I was only stopped because I was on the YP bus. That is why I took my own car in '07. And I am pretty sure they would not have approved of what I was bringing in.

AdultB2B

And if you are a single male coming in from Southeast Asia they'll do it every single time.

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marketsmart

I bet you talk just to hear yourself speak.. You post the lamest shit here. I would rather get Rick Rolled than hear your ramblings...

If it wasnt for the fact that you had no more than a year or two in this business, I would put you on my ignore list.

Instead, I will cherish the thought of watching you die a slow internet death...

Thanks for keeping me somewhat amused with your idiotic posts...

Barefootsies

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Daruma

Award for best post of the day

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StuartD

Huh? Where do you get your facts from?

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Rhesus

I seriously don't see what purpose it serves other than harassment. It's not like you can't get cp or other digital contraband into the country in millions of other ways.

s9ann0

http://www.truecrypt.org/

makes it realy easy to backup your work if its all in one file as well

Zango

Just tell them to NO and ask to speak to their supervisor. Refuse them access to your laptop. It will hold you up but they will let you slide.

I have done it 3 times.

Just don't deal with the peons, get the boss in there. The peons are always on a power trip.

Bojangles

Well aint that just crazy.

dav3

How long do one of these searches usually take, and what kind of person is performing the search? A lot of damage can be done by some random 'security guard' pissing around with your pc.

What happens if they do fuck up your machine. Are they held accountable, or do they just tell you tough shit in the name of national security?

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VeriSexy

Can't say I am all that surprised.

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