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ACLU Sues TSA Over Electronic Device Searches (techcrunch.com)
The American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California has filed a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit against the Transportation Security Administration over its alleged practices of searching the electronic devices of passengers traveling on domestic flights. "The federal government's policies on searching the phones, laptops, and tablets of domestic air passengers remain shrouded in secrecy," ACLU Foundation of Northern California attorney Vasudha Talla said in a blog post. "TSA is searching the electronic devices of domestic passengers, but without offering any reason for the search," Talla added. "We don't know why the government is singling out some passengers, and we don't know what exactly TSA is searching on the devices. Our phones and laptops contain very personal information, and the federal government should not be digging through our digital data without a warrant." TechCrunch reports: The lawsuit, which is directed toward the TSA field offices in San Francisco and its headquarters in Arlington, Virginia, specifically asks the TSA to hand over records related to its policies, procedures and/or protocols pertaining to the search of electronic devices. This lawsuit comes after a number of reports came in pertaining to the searches of electronic devices of passengers traveling domestically. The ACLU also wants to know what equipment the TSA uses to search, examine and extract any data from passengers' devices, as well as what kind of training TSA officers receive around screening and searching the devices. The ACLU says it first filed FOIA requests back in December, but TSA "subsequently improperly withheld the requested records," the ACLU wrote in a blog post today.
The TSA's own rules say that you can keep your belongings in sight while they are being inspected. The ACLU said of one woman passenger searched in the security line: "The agents did not ask her to unlock the phones, but took them for at least 10 minutes out of her view, she said, adding that she quickly became distraught." She should have loudly and repeatedly demanded to regain sight of her property. I've done this and gotten them to comply.
Data on electronic devices can show a persons support of and funding for a banned group. That they travelled to a nation to support and funded a banned group. Photographs, faith based and political support for groups of interest to the USA. Funds for and meetings with people and groups of interest to the USA. GPS, images that show the device owner when questioned was in a nation they failed to mention when asked about.
While these are within the scope of a U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) search, all of the above are outside the allowed activities of the TSA.
The article states " This lawsuit comes after a number of reports came in pertaining to the searches of electronic devices of passengers traveling domestically.... TSA does, however, have public policies pertaining to the search and seizure of electronic devices at the border and during international trips."
The complaint seems to conflate TSA and CBP searches, and alleges TSA is searching the contents of electronic devices held by domestic travelers flying through SFO, but provides no evidence to support this claim.
I do not deploy Linux. Ever.
...because of TSA nonsense. If they're going to feel me up, if the airlines are going to beat me up, and if they want to look at my phone and computer, they're going to have to chase me down at 80 mph on I-10 to do it. I like to drive anyway, and they can take their big brother state and shove it. All they're doing, from the bag searches to these electronic searches, are illegal under the 4th Amendment according to Judge Napolitano on Fox News. He was very specific. Illegal. But they just do it anyway.
Stick my bags in the trunk, phone on my belt and computer on the seat beside me, and they're going to have to work to see any of 'em.
Oh shit, my bank account has a password on it. I must be committing wire fraud and I should turn myself in.
The presence of a lock does not indicate guilt. We put locks on things because there are bad people in the world. Under the DMCA *you* can be jailed for breaking a DRM lock. If the government is just going around pipe-wrenching people to break open all locks then THEY ARE THE BAD PEOPLE.
This is an end-run around the constitution. If anywhere less than 100 miles from a border is a constitution-free zone and they slice up the US states into 100 mile wide bordered âoestatesâ then the constitution doesnâ(TM)t apply *anywhere*...we should just throw the constitution away and be done with it. The founding principles of this great country are gone and weâ(TM)re living in the tyranny that our forefathers escaped here to avoid in the first place. So...The next Mayflower is going to Mars?
Shit, well scratch that, I was wrong. You are likely to be arrested, but quite a few lawyers claim they can get you off:
https://www.ciyoudixonlaw.com/firearms-law/what-happens-if-i-accidentally-take-a-gun-through-an-airport-security-checkpoint/
https://nolacriminallaw.com/the-problem-of-firearms-at-tsa-checkpoints/
https://criminal-defense-attorney-tampa.blogspot.hr/2012/03/accidentally-bringing-gun-to-airport.html
The short of it is you should always clearly state that you did not know there was a firearm in your bag. That will get you off the criminal charge, but the slimy TSA fucks will still hit you with a $10k civil fine. There are a number of ways to get that down, but you may still end up paying something....sigh.