FISA and Border Searches of Laptops

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.)"

Comments

Re:constitution...?

[Hyppy]

The Constitution applies to any individual on U.S. soil, not just citizens.

Although, for purposes of border control, almost any search is considered lawful.

Contrast with the mail

[slashqwerty]

At the postal museum in Washington, D.C. a sign reads:

At the beginning of the new America, nearly all the news came by mail. When the Constitution was signed, it was rushed by post riders to every town that had a printing press. And that's how the newspapers were able to bring the resounding news of how we were to govern ourselves. The newspapers knew of it first by mail.

In England, for centuries, the mail was frequently scrutinized by agents of the Crown or of the Parliament. It could be worth your life to write a letter that might be seen as having the seeds of treason. This did not happen here. From the beginning, by and large, the U.S. mails have been free of eyes other than our own and those of the sender.

To the framers of the Constitution, the mail made the engine of democracy run--along with the newspapers. And newspapers then printed a good deal of correspondence. Rufus Putnam, a key military figure in the Revolutionary War, said, "The knowledge diffused among the people by newspapers, by correspondence between friends" was crucial to the future of the nation. "Nothing can be more fatal to a republican government than ignorance among its citizens."

As a journalist, I have sometimes been asked where my leads for stories come from. Much of the time, they come from opening the mail. Readers from all over the country send personal stories, newspaper clippings, local court decisions, and student newspaper editorials arguing for the First Amendment rights of students. There is no other way I would have known about these stories except through the mail. It is through letters that I often receive highly confidential stories about unfairness in the justice system from people who would not trust any other form of communication.

The framers of the Constitution knew how vital the mail would be when Article I was written to protect privacy of communication through the mail.

Nat Hentoff is a columnist for the Washington Post and the Village Voice, and the author of Free Speech for Me, but Not for Thee. How the Left and Right Relentlessly Censor Each Other.

Re:Look on the bright side...

[forgotten_my_nick]

This won't stop anytime soon. The reason the law got enacted was because someone with kiddy pics got stopped at customs.

I see the latest update in this is that your mobile devices can seized.

http://www.wmexperts.com/featured/can_customs_seize_your_windows.html

HR6702

[Oh no, it's Dixie]

If HR6702 is passed, this dangerous course can be reversed.

Sec 2(a)(1) sums it up nicely:

Except as otherwise provided in this subsection, no search of the digital contents of the device or media may be based on the power of the United States to search a person and that person's possessions upon entry into the United States, unless that search is based on a reasonable suspicion regarding that person.

Re:Look on the bright side...

[limaxray]

You're kidding yourself if you seriously think Obama or McCain are going to so much as lift a finger to change this. Both of them believe in rule by the government, for the government. Why the hell would they want to fight to gain the powers of the US president only to give them up to the people?

Plus I assume you are referring to Obama, but lets not forget he voted for FISA. We as a people need to figure it out that charismatic != honest and to take whatever either candidate says with a very large grain of salt. Remember, they only care about your vote and will gladly promise you the moon to get it. You'd think we would have learned this with President Bush II promising us a classical conservative utopia yet delivering a neo-conservative hell, but I guess we're all a little slow on the uptake.

Re:constitution...?

[toQDuj]

Although I believe airport security checkpoints and border controls are considered "not US soil".

The book to read is "The Puzzle Palace"

[wiredog]

Guess what, the NSA has been exercising "the right to tap any and all international connections" for decades. As long as one end of the connection is outside the US they can listen in.

Repeat after me

[Tiber]

THERE'S NO EXPECTATION OF PRIVACY ON THE INTERNET. IT'S JUST HOW IT WORKS. Your traffic badmouthing comcast might just be passed through a comcast router, or whatever have you. That's just how it works - you have very little control over your route on the internet. So until you come up with your own ISP, you're screwed.

Re:WWJTWU

[TheLink]

He does make a fairly strong claim in John 8:56-59
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=john%208:56-59;&version=31;

56 Your father Abraham rejoiced at the thought of seeing my day; he saw it and was glad."
57 "You are not yet fifty years old," the Jews said to him, "and you have seen Abraham!"
58 "I tell you the truth," Jesus answered, "before Abraham was born, I am!"
59 At this, they picked up stones to stone him, but Jesus hid himself, slipping away from the temple grounds.

In verse 59 the Jews knew what he was claiming, and that's why they tried to stone him.

Jesus did not say "before Abraham was born, I was". He said "I am".

For context see:

Exodus 3:13-14
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Exodus%203:13-14;&version=31;

13 Moses said to God, "Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, 'The God of your fathers has sent me to you,' and they ask me, 'What is his name?' Then what shall I tell them?"

14 God said to Moses, "I am who I am . [b] This is what you are to say to the Israelites: 'I AM has sent me to you.' "

"Securing Our Borders and Our Data Act"

[FiloEleven]

It should be noted that Ron Paul and Eliot Engel sponsored legislation on July 31 to

ensure that a traveler entering the United States would be subject to searches of their data and digital equipment only if a border agent has a reasonable suspicion to believe the traveler is or is about to be engaged in criminal activity.

Oh that Ron Paul, what a whack job! It's a shame he doesn't realize that the system is already fucked beyond our control and that he's simply giving those Americans foolish enough to listen to him a false glimmer of hope.

Just Went to Mexico and...

[mpapet]

First of all, most of you *worrying* this issue have gone back to work and will do nothing else about it. Nothing.

Second, based on the responses to the summary, I only see a few people who actually have some experience crossing borders. The rest of you need to unplug the cable TV, turn off the PC and do something else. Like travel, or get involved in a political issue like this one....

Third, the wisest travellers among us use the laptop like a thin client. Mail? Web-based or something else, definitely not POP. Media? MPD is nice. Any national interest can have my laptop because they'll find nothing. Now before you jump to the conclusion that I'm relying on "I've got nothing to hide" I'm not.

This is practical advice. Take it.