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Laptops Can Be Searched At the Border

Posted by kdawson on from the don't-need-no-stinkin'-suspicion dept.

Nothing to Declare notes that a California appeals court has unanimously upheld a ruling that border security officers at international airports can search personal computers without requiring any specific evidence of criminal activity. The appeal was made by US resident Michael Timothy Arnold, charged with child pornography offenses after an airport search of his notebook PC in 2005. Might want to think hard about what's on your laptop if you're going to be passing through a US international airport.

2 of 821 comments (clear)

  1. Re:I Wonder by whyde · · Score: 5, Interesting

    This previous topic seemed to cover it pretty well. Not only do they assert the right to search, they assert the right to make a copy of your computer's contents as you pass through customs.

    I wonder if the right to search your physical belongings is limited in any way, or whether they assert the right to make a photocopy of any printed document that you may have with you. Imaging taking your personal journal or diary along on a trip and having someone insist that they must photocopy it to pass through customs. How are your "papers and effects" a perceived threat to anyone while traveling, and how can one be secure in them anymore?

  2. Re:I Wonder by unlametheweak · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Since when is "loose morals" an illegal act? In the US there is the Vice Squad, in Toronto Canada there is (or was?) the Morality Squad, in Saudi Arabia there is the Religious Police.

    "Loose morals" are illegal so long as they are written into law (or at least enforced by Authority).