TSA now allowed to take laptops & cell phones from you

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Posted by E2EK1EL on Aug-04-2008 07:24:

TSA now allowed to take laptops & cell phones from you

TSA now allowed to take laptops from you

Posted on 03.08.2008 at 15:52 in Tech News by Martin

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.

Source: LA Times

Posted by Chris Allen on Aug-04-2008 07:45:

I honestly thought that this was always an option, but I realized after reading the article that before it was just the ability to look through it, not to actually detain it.

Oh joy... time to make sure I've always got server backups of music now just in case. *sigh*

Posted by Cosmic Fur on Aug-04-2008 12:56:

Is this only in the States? What if you're only departing from USA - same deal?

Posted by DigiNut on Aug-04-2008 13:42:

Confiscating a laptop is absurd; there is absolutely no way they're going to intercept an act of terrorism that way.

It's been part of the policy for a while, but the more they expand and try to use it, the more likely it is to be challenged on constitutional grounds, especially if they're doing it to returning U.S. citizens. Without probable cause it's unreasonable search and seizure, period.

Fuck, just let people take their guns on the plane already. Nobody's going to attempt a hijack when there are three people behind them all packing heat.

Posted by Yohan on Aug-04-2008 13:52:

quote:
Originally posted by DigiNut

Fuck, just let people take their guns on the plane already. Nobody's going to attempt a hijack when there are three people behind them all packing heat.

And people think the Wild West was nuts.

Would you fuck with someone if you KNOW that person is packing heat?

As for this new confiscation shenanigans, only dumb terrorists carry shit on their laptops. Smart ones know a little about security.

In the name of freedom... the govt takes away your freedom. Ironic

Posted by Dj Gracjan on Aug-04-2008 13:56:

fucking cocksuckers!!! this is what happens when ppl stay quiet and government's keep on pushing slowly for more and more and more start taking away more of YOUR/OUR rights. It will only get worse if people don't start making noise.

Posted by loca on Aug-04-2008 18:34:

Wow. Might as well leave the country with nothing but cash, buy all the stuff you need where you're going, and sell it again when you leave.

Posted by spolitta on Aug-04-2008 18:56:

The whole idea is to make fear for the general population. If my government is confiscating digital properties to prevent an act of terrorism, then I must live in a country where my life is in a great danger, therefore my government should fight back and destroy the enemy before they destroy us. Bush is simply a genius.

quote:
Originally posted by Yohan
As for this new confiscation shenanigans, only dumb terrorists carry shit on their laptops. Smart ones know a little about security.

There is no such thing as a smart terrorist.

Posted by Dj Smitty20 on Aug-04-2008 19:14:

quote:
Originally posted by Dj Gracjan
fucking cocksuckers!!! this is what happens when ppl stay quiet and government's keep on pushing slowly for more and more and more start taking away more of YOUR/OUR rights. It will only get worse if people don't start making noise.

Canadians don't make noise. We complain a little, but then bend over and take it right up the fucking ass.

Posted by Chris Allen on Aug-04-2008 19:47:

quote:
Originally posted by Dj Smitty20
Canadians don't make noise. We complain a little, but then bend over and take it right up the fucking ass.

http://www.ruinediphone.com/

Posted by Dj Smitty20 on Aug-04-2008 20:05:

quote:
Originally posted by Chris Allen
http://www.ruinediphone.com/

I'm not really interested in that thing to be honest.

Posted by hardcore trancer on Aug-04-2008 20:35:

I find it shocking to see how some people are ok with such disgusting acts by the US government.Wake the fuck up already you Americans you dont live in a free country anymore.

Posted by Chris Allen on Aug-04-2008 21:43:

quote:
Originally posted by Dj Smitty20
I'm not really interested in that thing to be honest.

My point was Canadians started to stand up for something, and between that website and the media attention, were able to have some change in the phone plans.

Posted by spolitta on Aug-04-2008 21:54:

quote:
Originally posted by Chris Allen
http://www.ruinediphone.com/

Dude I love you, but that is just a very bad example that I don't even want to begin discussing it.

Posted by Yohan on Aug-04-2008 21:55:

quote:
Originally posted by spolitta

There is no such thing as a smart terrorist.

Well, they are all fucked in the head, I suppose.

Posted by Dj Gracjan on Aug-04-2008 22:00:

quote:
Originally posted by Dj Smitty20
Canadians don't make noise. We complain a little, but then bend over and take it right up the fucking ass.

this it totally true. i don't know why Chris Allen put that iphone thing there, but i'm talking about something bigger than ppl complaining about a dumb phone. I'm talking about governments making laws the more laws just to cover their asses. like if u do something u are classified as a terrorist. i can't think of any examples right now, but i hope u guys get what i mean

Posted by Cosmic Fur on Aug-04-2008 22:08:

Simply put, the Iphone thing is a bad example because people are a lot more willing to complain about the actions of a company than the actions of their government. Also, on an individual level, consumers have a lot more power over companies than citizens over government policies. Apples and oranges, really.

Posted by Chris Allen on Aug-04-2008 23:56:

quote:
Originally posted by Dj Gracjan
this it totally true. i don't know why Chris Allen put that iphone thing there, but i'm talking about something bigger than ppl complaining about a dumb phone. I'm talking about governments making laws the more laws just to cover their asses. like if u do something u are classified as a terrorist. i can't think of any examples right now, but i hope u guys get what i mean

I understood your point, I'm not retarded

There are plenty of times when Canadians have fought back, but yes in the general consensus we do as a society just roll over and take it.

Posted by Dj Gracjan on Aug-05-2008 00:31:

and we cannot let this go on any further. time to make noise! tell the to stop f-ing with us!!!!

Posted by ali92 on Oct-20-2008 15:33:

All they'll get on me are 8 GB of MP3s on my BlackBerry & another 8 on my 2-week-old Nokia N95-3, 16 GB on the HTC Advantage X7510, 2 GB of MP3s on my watch phone, 280 GB of MP3 on my laptop HDD & torrents running off the cell card till the laptop battery runs flat, 2 TB of FLAC & 1 TB of ISOs on my external HDD. ;-)

Nothing terrorism there. ;-) They'll be wasting their time & holding everyone up by searching me. ROFL

PS: Yes, I really do walk around with 4 high-end mobile phones every day, 2 of which have int'l SIMs roaming 24/7. :-D

Posted by exstasie on Oct-20-2008 15:54:

I'd be careful about their anti-piracy laws as well.

I'm sure if they find stolen intellectual property on your electronic device you could get some severe punishments.

It was that long ago where there was a law they were trying to pass a law to give the rights to custom cards to scan the hard drives of individuals for pirated software.

I wouldn't surprise me if M$ was working with the government on this lol

Posted by ali92 on Oct-20-2008 15:57:

quote:
Originally posted by exstasie
I'd be careful about their anti-piracy laws as well.

I'm sure if they find stolen intellectual property on your electronic device you could get some severe punishments.

It was that long ago where there was a law they were trying to pass a law to give the rights to custom cards to scan the hard drives of individuals for pirated software.

I wouldn't surprise me if M$ was working with the government on this lol

What happens if your entire drive(s) are encrypted & hidden via something like TrueCrypt (where entire volumes can be hidden inside normal files)?

Posted by exstasie on Oct-20-2008 15:59:

quote:
Originally posted by ali92
What happens if your entire drive(s) are encrypted & hidden via something like TrueCrypt (where entire volumes can be hidden inside normal files)?

Who knows.

But if your computer is encrypted to that degree, they might wonder what you are trying to hide.

Posted by Yohan on Oct-20-2008 16:00:

Posted by ali92 on Oct-20-2008 19:44:

quote:
Originally posted by exstasie
Who knows.

But if your computer is encrypted to that degree, they might wonder what you are trying to hide.

TrueCrypt can hide stuff in ways that won't exactly look like they're being hidden. So basically unless you knew ahead of time that something was hidden, you wouldn't be searching for it. ;-)

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