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DHS Allowed To Take Laptops Indefinitely
andy1307 writes with a Washington Post story giving details of Department of Homeland Security policies for border searches of laptops and other electronic devices (as well as papers). (We have been discussing border searches for a while now.) DHS says such procedures have long been in place but were "disclosed last month because of public interest in the matter," according to the article. Here is a link to the policy (PDF, 5 pages). "Federal agents may take a traveler's laptop or other electronic device to an off-site location for an unspecified period of time without any suspicion of wrongdoing, as part of border search policies the Department of Homeland Security recently disclosed. Also, officials may share copies of the laptop's contents with other agencies and private entities for language translation, data decryption, or other reasons, according to the policies, dated July 16 and issued by two DHS agencies, US Customs and Border Protection and US Immigration and Customs Enforcement... DHS officials said that the newly disclosed policies — which apply to anyone entering the country, including US citizens — are reasonable and necessary to prevent terrorism... The policies cover 'any device capable of storing information in digital or analog form,' including hard drives, flash drives, cell phones, iPods, pagers, beepers, and video and audio tapes. They also cover 'all papers and other written documentation,' including books, pamphlets and 'written materials commonly referred to as "pocket trash..."'"
http://www.penny-arcade.com/images/2007/20070125.jpg
I thought it was funny the first time I read it, it's scary that it may be more true now. )=
BOFH from DHS : I have an excellent way to reduce our IT spending...
My ism, it's full of beliefs.
The policies cover 'any device capable of storing information in digital or analog form
My brain is a device that can record patterns in an analog form. If they want it, they'll have to get it over my dead body ;-)
"Sockets are the standard networking API, also useful for stopping your eyes from falling onto your cheeks" zeromq.org
It depends, are they planning on making big trouble for moose and squirrel?
Then you ship it inside a dead beaver to a Canadian taxidermist undercover spy in Minnesota. From there he places it inside a stuffed bear that is shipped to the hotel you will be staying, late at night you recover the laptop from the stuffed bear when nobody is looking.
If you need the number of the taxidermist, let me know... 15 inch and smaller laptops please, he cant find beavers large enough to ship 17 inch laptops anymore.
Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
he cant find beavers large enough to ship 17 inch laptops anymore
Yeah I hate when I can't find a beaver large enough to contain something that's 17 inches in size ;)
I want peace on earth and goodwill toward man.
We are the United States Government! We don't do that sort of thing.
It's not like there's some LAW that protects your personal effects against unreasonable searches and seizures or anything. Geez what are you guys, a bunch of terrorist-lovers?
SJW: Someone who has run out of real oppression, and has to fake it.
You realize what this means of course.... extremely courteous and polite terrorists.
She was like chocolate when she drank... semi-sweet at first and then increasingly bitter.
I'm not sure about you, but /I/ store my USB stick with my encryption keys down south when traveling, if you catch my drift.
It sure is a pain in the ass to recover it though.
Imagine if the passphrase to your key was the contents of a large binary on your system.
Even better, set your passphrase to:
"Amendment IV: 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."
That way even if they do crack it they'll probably die of shame as they're typing it in.