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This starts with inspecting people’s computers who are entering our country. But if it’s allowed, it’s a small step to allowing the government to check it at will anytime, perhaps remotely via the Internet just because it doesn’t like what you write about it using that computer. Interesting debate about what a hard disk really is, too. Big Brother, indeed.
If Your Hard Drive Could Testify
[T]he 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.”
Uncle Dave–its a good thing to be suspiciously paranoid when the terrain is nothing but slippery slopes to a totalitarian state===”BUT” there is a clear line of demarcation between inspecting “everything” when entering the country, versus a citizen residing in their private abode?
I would be concerned about the latter, not the former, and “could lead to” is not analysis, its just fanciful/lazy thinking.
1,
You forgot this line… “Since 9/11, we have to be vigilant about protecting ‘Merica’s borders from terra!”
Fixed that for ya!
Now, the major problem is this… You cannot assume people are guilty all the time. You let one “innocent” thing like this slip in and how far down the slope do you go? Another reason for me to not travel south of the border.
My wife’s laptop has thousands of pictures of my kids on them. Some of them are in the bath or on the potty and nudity is quite apparent. Am I going to get busted for child porn if they inspect my laptop? My phone has similar pictures of my kids. Should they go through that as well in the interests of protecting ‘Merica? Should this even be inspected if I’m not a “person of interest” or is EVERYONE now a person of interest?
One thing people seem to forget is once the government puts their eye on you, you will never be forgotten. No matter how innocent you are what they THINK of your guilt is paramount. And if you give them the tools to build a fraudulent case around you, will you have the willpower to fight back and win? Are you willing to risk 27 years in prison on a wrongful charge just because you think they’re “doing the right thing?”
I want to know if you will be obligated to give them any passwords (BIOS, HD, etc). So, if you do have pics of your kids, the question becomes if you can you hide them or not.
And businesses have to put up their records for inspection all the time. Same with taxpayers.
Also, try moving into a house without getting it inspected.
I’d sooner have a full-body cavity search than have a stranger be able to rummage at will through all the private thoughts and information on my hard drive.
How much wealth accords the right to have your hard drive sail through customs unexamined?
I think NOT… Can you say Fourth Amendment?
” 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.”
4,
Bad analogy. Your business records and your tax records are financial statements. Unless you put stuff like (line 303 – paid for prostitution at XX Faake Street.) (Line 304 – paid for anarchist cookbook – research). There are certain pieces of information that you DO NOT have to divulge. The article mentions rummaging through the WHOLE contents of you hard drive. No context, just data… Raw. You like it? You offer it at your next search. Smart people would refuse.
4,
Also, home inspections are optional. At least they are in Toronto.
Every country has had the right and some would say duty to search you and your posessions on entry. Why should a computer be any different?
As for #3’s question no not at all. Of course they don’t have to let you in the country either. It is no different than if you had a lock on your suitcase upon entry you would have to unlock it.
I agree. Customs has every right and the responsibility to search anything and everything entering the country.
When you cross into Canada, they have every right to confiscate all firearms and they will. Unless you declare them first, they meet Canadian guidelines for appropriate weapons, and have them safely stored they will take them.
Customs will never find contraband if they do not have the power and authority to search people. If your computer contains child porn then either leave it at home or be prepared to have it searched coming back into the country.
I ran into this coming back from Canada Last Year. They wanted to review my contents. I have the drive encrypted, and told them that it powers on and is real, and any other checking they might want to do I would need a Court Order as I have NDA Materials that they have no business reviewing. As long as it powered up, after this little mess, there was not a lot they could do so they let me through.
Has this changed?
10,
I don’t have child porn. I have pictures of my kids in the bath and on the potty. Or does that qualify as child porn now? If so, there are millions of parents in the US that are guilty for sure.
Your analogy about firearms is poor. You clearly state that if you declare firearms and appropriately store and ship them you have no issues. If you’re smuggling them, well, no brainer!
No one is denying their right to search for illegal materials, but to have carte blanche to look through a laptops contents, well, they can build any case they want.
11,
Powering up the laptop is sufficient for coming into Canada. Some places swab them for “explosive materials” (happened to me in Germany), but other than that, that is all. The US is always pushing the terror envelope.
Heck no. Can we make a law to allow us to inspect government worker’s hard drives upon request. After all, they do work for us, right?
#11
They could always use waterboarding to get your passwords. Thats legal now in the good old Forth Reich isn’t it.
I find it funny that the ACLU is up in arms about a volentary RFID program focusing on school children and school bus schedules but yet not a peep about this issue.
#2–I support your use of humor, “but” my comment applies before and after 9/11. And unlike #5, I would much rather have my hard drive inspected than my cavities. Physical comfort kind of thing although his full post is good advice to anyone travelling?==Leave your hard drive at home?
Meanwhile, the most cogent summary would be that “our right to privacy does not rationally equate to a right to anonymity.”
The right solution for the guy that had encrypted data was to not provide the password. If they insisted, demand a Court Order. Hell, I wouldn’t even log onto my machine for the guy. I’d boot up my laptop and if he asked me to login, I’d refuse. “Sorry, confidential information.” I would simply not be willing give them the keys to my kingdom.
Just install TrueCrypt, the free open-source encryption software and tell them to pound sand. Take advantage of the hidden volume option for plausible deniability and you are all set.
#17
Only a terrorist would have some thing to hide! They have vaays of making you talk.
I am so glad I don’t travel anymore. If I had to deal with traveling abroad and back on a regular basis I am sure I would have an aneurysm.
On the subject of hiding stuff on your computer I use Truecrypt. It allows you to have an invisible encrypted volume inside a “public” encrypted volume. That way you can give an inspector passwords for your public encrypted volume and they would be clueless about the invisible encrypted volume.
16,
No one is debating anonymity. In fact, what the issue here is privacy. You’re not anonymous when you flash your passport or ID, so that’s a non-starter.
And why should I leave my laptop at home? Ostensibly, they are tools to bring and use parts of your life in a digital form. Should I leave all methods of diction, recording and organizing as well and just show up in a tight-fitting skin suit to demonstrate that the only dangerous weapon I’m packing is what I was born with?
Ask for an inch and take a mile is government policy. Just like the TSA confiscating every lighter to indicate that they are doing something, every policy HAS to have some sort of return on investment… and if the return on investment just happens to be an innocent traveler, well so be it?
You know, since we cannot profile anyone. Everyone gets inspected. Now tell me which is more unfair? I see nothing wrong with intelligent profiling. It allows our security to concentrate on only truly suspect people rather then grandma and grandpa going to Florida for example. Are we going to spend money inspecting hard drives for bomb making plans.
Or are we going to spend the money taking people to court for a few illegal songs?
Nope. 4th Amendment. Besides, the smart terrorists will keep their info on a jump drive in their pen.
I don’t agree with the judge who says that computers are an extension of one’s own memory. In Canada, anyway, you can not even take notes as a member of a jury in a trial.
I’m for inspections in theory. There are things on such drives that could cause great harm to people. Potential threats have always been reason enough to justify confiscation.
But this policy can and should only go as far as what can be practical and useful.
Anything you could put on a hard drive you could access via the internet once you crossed the border, so what really is the point of an inspection?
That said, at least inspections are a cost-effective way to help weed out some of the stupid criminals.
RBG
#15 The reason the ACLU isn’t involved is that the right of the government to search you and your stuff at the border is well established case law and has been for a very very long time.
And as for not giving them the pasword or key codes well as I said they have every right to not let you bring the computer into the country.
22,
You’re joking right? Do a search for the TSA watch list and you’ll see that 800000 names is nothing to sneeze at. And you might even find your own name on it even if it’s not you.
Just print out any sensitive info on paper – chances are these TSA types can’t read…
Encrypt the whole data partition on your drive. It boots up normally, and then what? Heck, you can just fool the brownshirts at customs by using the ‘plausible deniability’ option, where you agree to decrypt the partition, but there is another invisible partition that has the real data.
If I know this.. just how the heck does an inspection of this type make us safer in any way. The 9/11 attackers trained to fly airplanes, you think they can’t figure out how to double encrypt a hard drive.
Here we are worrying about hard drives, while container loads of stuff arrive uninspected by the thousands every day.
#27 I love it when somebody questions the intellegence of someone or a group and doesn’t even know that the TSA isn’t who checks you and your stuff when you enter the country.
#24 RBG
“Potential threats have always been reason enough to justify confiscation.”
I find all guns to be a potential threat, no matter where they are.
I find uncontrolled access to the Internet a potential threat, no matter who you are you should be monitored and content on the Internet should be restricted.
I find unmonitored email to be a threat, so all email is subject to review.
I find all travel outside of my country to be a threat, since we do not know who you will talk to, so all travel outside our country must be restricted.
I find all criticism of our government a threat, since it affects it’s ability to keep us safe, therefore all criticism of our government is illegal.
I find that it is a threat to not report all suspicious conversations that I may have or overhear, hence I must report on all my neighbors, friends and families.
I find that books may have content that I find threatening, hence all books must be approved by the government for their contents.
I find that newspapers may be threatening in what they publish, hence all newspaper information must be reviewed and approved.
Welcome to the United States of North Korea.