Ned
02-11-2008, 04:25 PM
An article by CNN, Suit: Airport searches of laptops, other devices intrusive (http://www.cnn.com/2008/TRAVEL/02/11/laptop.searches/index.html), discusses Homeland Security inspections of laptops, BlackBerries, and MP3 players, without probable cause, and any explanation to the owner, which happen routinely at US entry ports, which include lengthy questioning and intrusive searches, and agents forcing owners to give them access to password-protected, confidential information including personal banking records.
Personally, forgetting for a moment I believe I don't leave my Constitutional rights at home when I leave the country, I have other problems with these searches:
Homeland Security refuses to reveal to the public what policies and procedures exist governing their questioning and searches of individuals at the nation's ports of entry.
I am concerned about the security of personal and business information obtained by customs. Homeland Security refuses to reveal how they handle the information they retrieve.
In many cases, Homeland Security has confiscated and never returned the devices.
They don't permit the owners to retrieve data from the devices which don't exist anywhere else and are vital to the owner.
They don't have a procedure for the owners to petition to retrieve the device or information located on it.
They don't have a procedure for the owners to find out the disposition of the devices, or to require to government to destroy the devices, to protect the information, if necessary.
They refuse to reveal how the information taken from the device is used and/or stored. Russ Knocke, a spokesman for the Department of Homeland Security, equates searches of electronic devices to those of papers in briefcases.
"You forgo your right to privacy when you are seeking admission into the country," he says. "This is the kind of scrutiny the American public expects."
But Marcia Hoffman, an attorney for the Electronic Frontier Foundation, says the searches go too far.
"Your laptop computer may contain your financial records, your e-mail with your friends and your family and your co-workers, records of the Web sites you visit, confidential business information," Hoffman says.
"Our position is there should be some suspicion of wrongdoing before the government can search your sensitive personal information at the border."
Georgetown University Law Center professor David Cole says he agrees.So, do you think, "This is the kind of scrutiny the American public expects," or perhaps do you think Homeland Security should have to obey the laws of the land, starting with the Constitution.
Personally, forgetting for a moment I believe I don't leave my Constitutional rights at home when I leave the country, I have other problems with these searches:
Homeland Security refuses to reveal to the public what policies and procedures exist governing their questioning and searches of individuals at the nation's ports of entry.
I am concerned about the security of personal and business information obtained by customs. Homeland Security refuses to reveal how they handle the information they retrieve.
In many cases, Homeland Security has confiscated and never returned the devices.
They don't permit the owners to retrieve data from the devices which don't exist anywhere else and are vital to the owner.
They don't have a procedure for the owners to petition to retrieve the device or information located on it.
They don't have a procedure for the owners to find out the disposition of the devices, or to require to government to destroy the devices, to protect the information, if necessary.
They refuse to reveal how the information taken from the device is used and/or stored. Russ Knocke, a spokesman for the Department of Homeland Security, equates searches of electronic devices to those of papers in briefcases.
"You forgo your right to privacy when you are seeking admission into the country," he says. "This is the kind of scrutiny the American public expects."
But Marcia Hoffman, an attorney for the Electronic Frontier Foundation, says the searches go too far.
"Your laptop computer may contain your financial records, your e-mail with your friends and your family and your co-workers, records of the Web sites you visit, confidential business information," Hoffman says.
"Our position is there should be some suspicion of wrongdoing before the government can search your sensitive personal information at the border."
Georgetown University Law Center professor David Cole says he agrees.So, do you think, "This is the kind of scrutiny the American public expects," or perhaps do you think Homeland Security should have to obey the laws of the land, starting with the Constitution.