4th
Homeland Security: We can seize laptops for an indefinite period
I was reading a article today of an issue that I have known about for some time since the practice was started about year and half ago and I feel that now would be a good time to bring it up.
Apparently, the US Customs agent may seize my laptop without any warrant or reason. They may hold my laptop for “an indefinite period” and even copy the data on my hard drive. The average Joe might find this be a bit of a surprise as he travels to Europe for the first time or to the business exec who is on his way to a multimillion dollar meeting where the fate of the decision is on his laptop. I mean, how would you feel being the normal citizen who has done everything he possibly could to obey all rules of the law and even donated to his/her church every Sunday for the past 18 years, to have their laptop taken away from them for no reason what so ever.
A pair of DHS policies from last month say that customs agents can routinely—as a matter of course—seize, make copies of, and “analyze the information transported by any individual attempting to enter, re-enter, depart, pass through, or reside in the United States.”
Does that news not just make your blood boil? I can understand that this may be in the “best interest” of the country to make us safer at the end of the day. But seizing a laptop and copying its hard drive is uniquely invasive—and should only be done if there’s a good reason.
Just my two cents on the issue. I fear that my laptop may fall into the wrong hands when coming back home. But I hope for the best…
