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FISA and Border Searches of Laptops

Posted by kdawson on from the not-giving-up-my-keys-no-sir dept.

With the recent attention to the DHS's draconian policy on laptop searches at borders, a blog post by Steven Bellovin from last month is worth wider discussion. Bellovin extrapolates from the DHS border policy on physical electronic devices and asks why authorities wouldn't push to extend it to electronic data transfers. "...it would seem to make little difference if the information is 'imported' into the US via a physical laptop or via a VPN, or for that matter by a Web connection. The right to search a laptop for information, then, is equivalent to the right to tap any and all international connections, without a warrant or probable cause. (More precisely, one always has a constitutional protection against 'unreasonable' search and seizure; the issue is what the definition of 'unreasonable' is.)"

12 of 421 comments (clear)

  1. Old school by IceCreamGuy · · Score: 4, Funny

    I have a teletype connected to a tin can that crosses the border with a long peice of twine, connected to another tin can connected to a modem.

    1. Re:Old school by Fred_A · · Score: 5, Funny

      I have a teletype connected to a tin can that crosses the border with a long peice of twine, connected to another tin can connected to a modem.

      That seems to fit the "definition of unreasonable" quite nicely.

      --

      May contain traces of nut.
      Made from the freshest electrons.
    2. Re:Old school by sm62704 · · Score: 4, Funny

      "Little Frog Legs" and I use smoke signals. Peace, man!

      --
      mcgrew's razor: Never attribute to stupidity that which can be explained by greedy self-interest
    3. Re:Old school by Chrisq · · Score: 4, Funny

      Mine has a sticker that says "Long live Islam and death to America". Could this be why I always get searched ;-)

    4. Re:Old school by The+Angry+Mick · · Score: 4, Funny

      Just tell them you bought the laptop from a former TSA employee . . .

      --

      I'm not tense. I'm just terribly, terribly, alert.

  2. WWJTWU by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    What Would Jesus Think Was Unreasonable?

    1. Re:WWJTWU by Ihlosi · · Score: 4, Funny

      What Would Jesus Think Was Unreasonable?

      "And if they take your laptop, give them your digital camera, iPod and cellphone, too." (Mt 5,40, paraphrased)

    2. Re:WWJTWU by Hognoxious · · Score: 4, Funny

      What Would Jesus Think Was Unreasonable?

      Purely a guess: getting nailed to a log just for suggesting that people should try to be a little bit nicer to each other.

      --
      Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
    3. Re:WWJTWU by pitchpipe · · Score: 5, Funny

      the issue is what the definition of 'unreasonable' is

      With this Administration's tortured definition of torture, one shouldn't be surprised when they have an unreasonable definition of unreasonable.

      --
      Look where all this talking got us, baby.
    4. Re:WWJTWU by elrous0 · · Score: 5, Funny

      If Jesus was here today, I know EXACTLY what he would do.

      He would scream "Metal carts, pulled by unseen demonic horses! Iron mountains!" in Aramaic, then go hide somewhere.

      --
      SJW: Someone who has run out of real oppression, and has to fake it.
  3. Re:You wish... by Random+BedHead+Ed · · Score: 5, Funny

    Pretty soon they'll be able to hold me for not having a laptop for them to search. They'll think I'm hiding something. That's like being told I should carry some cash on me so the mugger has something to walk away with, otherwise he'll get pissed and just shoot me. Every border crossing is turning into a mugging.

    Wow. First to see that in a post that isn't clearly a troll, and then to see it modded +5? Slashdot's really turning into Digg.

    Frankly, your post is one of the most absurd ones I've ever seen on Slashdot.

    Pretty soon you'll be criticising people for not posting at all, like they're trying to hide their opinions from the Slashdot masses. Then you'll be mugging them. I've seen these scary, slippery slopes before.

  4. Re:You wish... by Random+BedHead+Ed · · Score: 3, Funny

    I'm not a coward but I don't want to get mugged, especially for not posting, so let me just say that I agree that these slippery slopes could lead to our being mugged more frequently, eventually in our own homes, all for the crimes of not posting or owning laptops.

    You know who else didn't own laptops? The Nazis.