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Tips For Taking Your Laptop Into and Out of the US?
casualsax3 writes "I'm going to be taking a week long round trip from NYC to Puerto Vallarta Mexico sometime next month, and I was planning on taking my laptop with me. I'll probably want to rip a few movies and albums to the drive in order to keep busy on the flight. More important though, is that I'm also going to be taking pictures while I'm there, and storing them on the laptop. With everything in the news, I'm concerned that I'll have to show someone around the internals of my laptop coming back into the US. The pictures are potentially what upsets me the most, as I feel it's an incredible violation of my privacy. Do I actually need to worry about this? If so, should I go about hiding everything? I've heard good things about Truecrypt. Is it worth looking into or am I being overly paranoid?"
...encrypt it. Full disk encryption is relatively cheap, easy, and unobtrusive.
You gave one such example in your post.
But uh, mind if I ask: exactly what kind of pictures are you planning on taking on your vacation? ;-)
problem solved.
keep an SD card in ur wallet
Throw a clean install on your laptop, and put your critical data on a server so you can just log in and download it when you arrive.
When you're about to fly back, re-upload your data and wipe the drive.
You could also just mail encrypted DVDs with substantial insurance.
The laws are a travesty. The system is fubar not just beyond all recognition, but beyond all belief. However, you've got a better chance of justifying the average DMCA takedown notice then you do of having something bad happen to your laptop because of your border crossing. I do it several times a year and have never had anyone even take notice of my laptop. In fact, in all my years of international travel, I've had one complete *ass* of a border agent (at London's Luton airport) and for the most part all the others have been cordial at worst, and down right heartwarming at best. The bureaucrats need to be executed for treason and absolute scumbaggery immediately, the border agents are just people like you and me doing their (admittedly lousy) jobs.
I just came back in from a two week stay in Europe, where my travels took me through several countries there. While I was there, all the photos that I took were stored on the laptop, along with several movies that I'd ripped to the drive.
Upon my return to the states, the check-in process wasn't any different than it had been a couple of years ago. They asked no questions about my laptop, or if I even had one. The only time my laptop left my bag was when I put it through the X-ray machine.
That being said, it never hurts to encrypt your data anyway.
If you're looking here for something insightful or thought provoking, you're probably looking in the wrong place.
OK, i'm not AC and I can tell you that they don't have time to check out laptops at most international airports beyond the aforementioned bomb check.
Yes, i've passed into and out of the country several times during the last year. No search.
HBI's Law: Frequency of calling others Nazis is directly correlated with the likelihood of the accuser being Communist.
So, wait a minute. You were worried enough about being searched that you chose to bring your "noncritical laptop" (I'm assuming that's oposed to your critical one). And you packed this laptop right next to your drug stash?
Also, last time I was on a cruise they had bomb/drug dogs checking the bags both while loading and unloading, so I'm not sure how safe it is to pack contraband on your way out of the country either. Though they weren't checking bags if you carried them onto the boat yourself so I guess that's just one more example of security theater.
I've had the same experience. A few sex toys in the carry on will greatly expedite any terminal searches you wind up going through.
-Rick
"Most people in the U.S. wouldn't know they live in a tyrannical state if it walked up and grabbed their junk." - MyFirs
Darned border search exception.
"travelers may be stopped [and searched] at . . . the border without individualized suspicion even if the stop [or search] is based largely on ethnicity[.]" United States v. Montoya de Hernandez, 473 U.S. 531, 538 (1985), United States v. Martinez-Fuerte, 428 U.S. 543, 562-563 (1976)
and
"may [...] conduct searches of the traveler's body -- including strip, body cavity, involuntary x-ray, and in some jurisdictions, patdown searches -- if the Customs officer has reasonable suspicion" to do so. United States v. Flores-Montano, 541 U.S. 149, 152-53 (2004), United States v. Johnson, 991 F.2d 1287, 1291-92 (7th Cir. 1993)
Everyone has seen a shell prompt and knows that computer professionals use it. If you tell them you are a developer, system administrator, etc. They don't even want to HEAR you talking over their heads. You obviously know more about that machine than them and they send you on your way.
This is my sig. There are many like it but this one is mine.
And I was concerned about the same things. Turns out that concern was needless. Mexico doesn't care what's on your laptop or in your luggage -- my luggage wasn't even seriously searched there. A Mexican Federale rifled around in my main suitcase looking for bottles of liquor and foodstuffs on my way back to the states (he only found one, haha) but that was it. They didn't even bother to check my laptop bag at all. I flew out through Atlanta, and the only searching I had to go through stateside was routine x-rays. Laptop out of the case and in a tray by itself, run through the machine, and that's it. They didn't blink when it went through.
If my experience is any indication, the only thing you'll have to worry about is getting a good wireless signal while you're there. Not that you'll want to be on your computer, it's one of the most beautiful places I've ever been. I don't think you have anything to worry about. Take your ATM and/or credit card with you too. You can use it in most places down there -- even in ATMs which dispense pesos at the current official exchange rate, meaning you won't have to haggle with anyone about how many pesos your $10 bill is worth.
Oh yeah, and you want to take the zipline tour through the jungles. That and the Catalina excursion if you can. Well worth the cost.
If ever a comment needed to be AC'ed it was this one. You'll probably be getting a knock at the door any moment now.
I went on a cruise last year and the day we were to disembark we had to stay in our rooms an hour while the police with drug sniffing dogs arrested several passengers for drug possession.
"A person is smart. People are dumb, panicky dangerous animals and you know it." - K
We recently had a laptop confiscated from a white, middle aged, morbidly obese man while entering the US via a flight from Canada. I don't think it matters what you look like, they just take what they want.
I just returned to the US last week from a month-long trip overseas. I brought my laptop along to store photos from my digital camera. The only time I had to remove my laptop from its case was at the airport (LAX) when leaving the US, when I had to put it through an X-ray machine. I didn't have to do it again when I returned (it still went through the X-ray machine). At no point was I asked about the contents of my laptop nor asked to turn it on. This was a marked improvement from 2 years ago, when I had to remove the laptop from its case and remove my shoes at every point in my journey (my trip had a connecting flight).
You're frightened because the Customs has always had the power to search persons and physical objects at the border without a warrant, or that someone actually thought it might be a good idea to extend the longstanding and repeatedly upheld border search exception to include data on electronic devices? If it has always been acceptable (and repeatedly upheld by the Supreme Court[1]) to search for anything else illegal at the border without a warrant, can someone make a good argument why data on one's person or in one's possession at the time of border crossing should be excluded under those same provisions?
Or are you frightened because you subscribe to the idea that the US has turned into a fascist regime, when the EU and individual European nations have their own laundry list of controversial laws and provisions attempting to grapple with how to handle electronic data in a legal sense in the continually emerging Information Age?
[1]:
United States v. Montoya de Hernandez, 473 U.S. 531, 538 (1985)
United States v. Martinez-Fuerte, 428 U.S. 543, 562-563 (1976)
United States v. Flores-Montano, 541 U.S. 149, 152-53 (2004)
United States v. Johnson, 991 F.2d 1287, 1291-92 (7th Cir. 1993)
On the October 6th, 2008 "This Week in Tech", Kevin Mitnik talks about how he now deals with taking his laptops in and out of the country.
TWiT 163: MitNicked
there have been a LOT of scary stories about this lately... I was concerned about the same thing... BUT... like some others have said, I have yet to see a laptop being inspected/confiscated. Two trips out of the country this year, one to Cabo, the other to Paris and Prague. No problems.
Truecrypt provides plausible deniability - the capability to create a hidden encrypted volume within another encrypted volume, thereby allowing you to grant access to unimportant/dummy data when a password is asked for without the attacker knowing additional information even exists.
To do this you need the TrueCrypt bootloader installed...
No. You don't. -1 Wrong.
You only need the boot-loader if you're doing full-disk encryption. But you can boot up unencrypted and create as many volumes as you'd like with or without hidden volumes inside with just the normal TrueCrypt software.
He's getting rather old, but he's a good mouse.
Having worked on cruise ships for several years, I can offer some advice if you'll be there a while (not just your average passenger):
* We were warned about Coast Guard inspections days in advance. The contraband was placed into film canisters, and those film canisters were washed thoroughly. They were then hidden in PUBLIC areas of the ship -- if found, it would be difficult to determine just who had put them there. As far as I know, none were ever found.
* Make friends with security. Remember that when you are on shore having fun in port, they are standing in the doorway checking everyone. They don't get to go shopping, or out to shoot pool or hit nightclubs. Something as simple as doing their shopping for them once in a while could net you one very valuable ally.
Other points should work for anyone:
* If you are trying to take goodies back OFF the ship, separate these goodies from anything personally identifiable. The way the dogs mark the bags to be checked is to piss on them, so if you see your bag is wet or sitting in a puddle at the pickup point, just walk away.
* If you are bringing goodies ONTO the ship, you should only bring enough to last you until your first port, not the whole trip -- this should make it easier to keep them on you personally and not in your luggage. Re-stock once outside the U.S. where the inspections will be much less intensive. If going to Mexico, the guys who will weave a wristband with your name in it for $5 will also happily set up a transaction for you for an appropriate fee.
* Take one more bottle of booze than you are entitled to, and DECLARE IT. Nothing looks more like cooperation than voluntarily paying $3 in taxes. If you want to take more than that, feel free -- the one extra is just a minimum to make sure you have something to declare, and even with taxes you'll generally pay less for a liter bottle on-board than for a 750ml bottle of the same thing on land. Spread the most expensive bottles around, one to a person, to be their "freebie", and pay taxes on the cheaper ones.
Mal-2
How is the Riemann zeta function like Trump rallies? Both have an endless number of trivial zeros.
Sorry, but if you take your laptop and any part of it is encrypted (especially if you have full disk encryption where you need to enter the password just to decrypt the drive and boot) you are GUARANTEED to get it seized because you must have "something to hide".
The only solution is to have a minimal install of windows xp (since that's what TSA drones will recognize) with NO DATA onboard. Keep all your data out on S3 (jungledisk) or some other service, and get access to it when you get to where you're going. That way if your laptop gets stolen (other than by the TSA who thinks he'd like your shiny new laptop) they don't have access to anything.
You aren't paranoid if you really have enemies.
While having someone look at my vacation pictures wouldn't especially bother me, having some Homeland Security dweeb who can't find the power switch impound my PC because he thinks that maybe, possibly, there is a chance there is something questionable scares the hell out of me.
Customs (and others?) can seize laptops, disks, media, etc, FOR NO REASON AT ALL, and there is little or no legal recourse to get the stuff back. If that's not worth being paranoid over....
There are a few good articles from the EFF:
EFF Answers Your Questions About Border Searches
http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2008/05/border-search-answers
Protecting Yourself From Suspicionless Searches While Traveling
http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2008/05/protecting-yourself-suspicionless-searches-while-t
because you didn't visit argentina during late 70s or early 80s when our neighbors (well, we too, and ALL the rest of south america) were under a ruthless dictatorship that used to load anyone they didn't like into C-130s and drop them in the midle of the ocean.
BTW, that regime ? sponsored by the US, with CIA's planning. as were all the dictatorships in the continent.
What ? Me, worry ?
Use two hard drives. One concealed in the luggage, or sent by Fedex/UPS/mail, fully encrypted. Backed up for case it'd be intercepted. Another one with a fresh install or known-good image in the laptop itself, so the laptop boots. That way, there's nothing to find during eventual search. You can either make the laptop some "history", so the OS looks used, or claim that it is a business machine and a fresh image is the company policy for overseas travels; many companies actually do so now, so it is a plausible legend. Also, look unimportant, a small grey corporate drone on a trip.
One lesson from an incredibly expensive joke of a "terrorist" case in Australia is that a photograph of a landmark is proof you are going to blow it up. Be careful with those holiday snapshots!
I don't know if there's anything like it in Australia but in the US we have this handbook, "The Photographer's Right", photographers started to carry. In a photography class in college I was taking when 911 happened, we heard about how photographers started to go through questioning when they were taking photos. One student there was working on a class assignment when police or private security personnel tried to confiscate his camera. It was a bizarre tyme for photographers then.
Falcon
Should there be a Law?
To be fair, it's way more likely that someone will steal his laptop out of the hotel room while he's on vacation.