AMERICAblog: How do you feel about having your laptop searched at the border?
Busboy
· 1 year ago
If you put stuff to disk and wipe the drive, can they inspect the disks? I don't have much to hide, like you do, so I don't think about it much. There are some pretty juicy e-mails that I wouldn't want published. But, KayInMaine has all of those in her files anyway.
vwcat
· 1 year ago
More and more we live in Bush's and Cheney's idea of a Police State. Wonderful isn't it. this is what fear does and leads to in society.
jr
· 1 year ago
traveling isn't sexy anymore. Getting your laptop searched, having to take your shoes off at the airport etc
ShirleyGoodnessanMercy
· 1 year ago
Well surely THOUSANDS of explosive flip flops have been deterred thanks to the Bush policies, I'm SURE.
mirth
· 1 year ago
These searches give the illusion of border security rather than looking where real dangers might be, such as port cargo containers. It's all show and another layer of intimidation.
Arrange to borrow a computer at your destination and leave yours home.
Bush_Bites
· 1 year ago
Or use a company computer for travel.
Busboy
· 1 year ago
That's what I usually do, Mirth. However, some times there are biz things on my hard drive that I need to access. Is there a way to do that with someone else's computer?
Blazorge
· 1 year ago
This is how they are creeping us closer to a total police state every day. It doesn't happen all at once. Just a little more control here...a little less freedom here. I remember being stunned by the stupidity of putting my shoes through the x-ray machine and now I'm so used to taking my shoes off at the airport I do it without even thinking; even in Europe where you don't have to. How long will it be before we think it's normal to submit to a cavity search and a lie detector test to get on a plane? I think this Government is as cowardly and un-American as you can get. For once I'd like to hear so-called "conservatives" speak out about the real attacks on the constitution and our civil rights that are brazenly occurring more and more frequently; and not just about lifting bans on handgun ownership and criminalizing same sex marriage.
bumpkis
· 1 year ago
Is there a way to do that with someone else's computer?
Portable USB flash drive on your keychain....
Bush_Bites
· 1 year ago
This should help.
Companies whose employees travel overseas have also criticized the inspections, saying that the search of electronic devices could hurt their businesses.
If the business lobby starts complaining, look out.
Busboy
· 1 year ago
Thanks, Bumpkis. I'll try to go that way.
bumpkis
· 1 year ago
I'd have to dig a little, but I have been hearing they are now cleverly disguised as all kinds of things, pens, jewelry, etc....
Bush_Bites
· 1 year ago
Which means going through laptops is dumb anyway.
If we could figure out a way to get around the inspections, a terrorist wouldn't have much problem.
BCPipes
· 1 year ago
"Luggage that includes your medical history. Nude photos of your spouse, or yourself. Your personal diary.".......
........ or a campaign strategy. Or, a business model you don't want Exxon prying into...... or.........
ShirleyGoodnessanMercy
· 1 year ago
I wanna see the laptops of Larry Craig, Lindsey Graham, and the governors of Florida and Texas.
Busboy
· 1 year ago
Yeah, that would be awful. Someone pirating Hillary's campaign strategy...
Bush_Bites
· 1 year ago
Bet McCain keeps his porn at the bottom of his sock drawer.
OlderAndWiser
· 1 year ago
Your sex life on your laptop? That sounds so inorganic...
Busboy
· 1 year ago
You can publish here. We'll read it and grade it on a scale of 1 to 10...
OlderAndWiser
· 1 year ago
Hey, I remember my first sexual experience 52 years ago...I never felt the need to record any of my sexual experiences. My mind remembers everything...it's for my own consumption only.
Hook one of these on your bunch of keys...TSA idiots would never notice what it is...there is even one disguised as a lipstick case on this site...
Busboy
· 1 year ago
Bumpkis. You ex-CIA?
bumpkis
· 1 year ago
Nobody is ever X-CIA....
mirth
· 1 year ago
How long before we read that info, personal and business, collected by border personnel has been "stolen?"
This is another arm of the booming industry of identity theft and could be a new form of business espionage.
Busboy
· 1 year ago
Have to agree with Mirth on this one. You could have a 100,000 TSA agents running their own little blackmail rings...
Busboy
· 1 year ago
O&W, you were only 13?
OlderAndWiser
· 1 year ago
I was just short of 16...but at any rate, it's none of your business. See, even in the 50s, teenagers would be teenagers...all those hormones raging in spite of religious admonitions.
Bush_Bites
· 1 year ago
Not about laptops, but a pretty interesting story nevertheless.
By a reporter in Afghanistan who got ahold of an old computer used by Al Qaeda during Taliban days.
Well there's no way I'm deleting my stored porn. It took a lot of time to collect just the right stuff. Homeland Security can get their own on their own.
Not to be missed in this story is that your computer can be seized and held for weeks or months.
I'd like to hear from Obama about this snooping...altho maybe his take on FISA tells us. :(
Busboy
· 1 year ago
I still say that this is the story of the day: Bill Clinton telling Obama to kiss his ass:
"The only way to REALLY eliminate all crime and terrorism is for the government to simply kill everyone - or at least a few tens of thousands (we don't have soccer stadiums, but perhaps football fields will do)." - Aravosis
Are you aware that since the Bush/Cheney dynasty there are well over 200 internment camps that have been built all over the United States? Just google US detention camps, or US concentration camps and see what you find. They are up and running just waiting for "illegal aliens or perhaps, dissenters of this president's administration or maybe, once Martial Law has been implemented all of the people who try and question or fight this government will be called terrorists or those against this country. It won't take much to move us into camps. They will not need football fields etc. I know it sounds crazy, but check it out on Google.
mirth
· 1 year ago
There's at least one of these FEMA camps in my state of NM.
On the bright side, once we're locked up we won't have to buy gas or groceries.
Butch1
· 1 year ago
. . . and you know they won't have to either. ;-)
Busboy
· 1 year ago
I have an aerial of one of the concentration camps in, I believe, Colorado. However, when I try to post it, it comes up as "invalid image". I'll try to send it to one of the site gurus to see what's wrong.
Butch1
· 1 year ago
I have been surprised that this has stayed under the radar and the huge majority of this country doesn't know we even have them. After posse comitatus (sp) was removed, it allowed our military to actually police us not unlike the gestapo. There was a reason the rule was in place to keep the government from turning our armed forces against us and it will be useful for this government to keep us under control especially if we are unfortunate enough to be placed in one of those camps.
Busboy
· 1 year ago
Posse Comitatus was removed? revoked? by whom? I thought it was in the constitution. Part of the second amendment?
Butch1
· 1 year ago
Yes, it started unraveling during the Reagan administration and was revisited during this Bush's administration. It is no more. With this and habeas corpus missing until the Supreme Court ruled on it recently ( barely winning it back in a 5-4 decision, you can guess who was against us having habeas corpus ) any citizen that the president would accuse of being an enemy combatant would have absolutely no rights to be brought to trial or see the charges brought against them. This is why we need to repair this breach as well and place the Posse Comitatus back so we are protected from an out of control government. Bush and company have done much in the eight years to give the executive branch unilateral control of this country.
bumpkis
· 1 year ago
Every terrorist I know keeps his secret plans on his laptop....or on a folded piece of paper in his shoes.
Busboy
· 1 year ago
I wish I had a "secret" plan....
Busboy
· 1 year ago
If I had my "laptop" searched at the border? I think I'd ask for the TSA agent that looked most like a "Hooters" employee...
Busboy
· 1 year ago
Do they stick a dollar bill in your fly when they're finished?
Andrew
· 1 year ago
Motherland security at its worst. I think I read somewhere that the ACLU is taking this matter to court because on the face of it, it is unconstitutional search and siezure. What the hell ever happend to probable cause. Have we as a society grown that apathetic that we're willing to give all of our rights away? And by the way, how does a guy like Chertoff get a cabinet position when the guy holds dual passports. One from the US and one from Isreal just like Rahm Emanuel? Something really smells in all of this and I can only hope that someone or entity will take this case to the Supream Court if necessary. Bad enough they spy on everyone and dump the information into monster data bases for future use. Now with Obama wavering on telecom immunity in the FISA bill, I really get the shits thinking about where our future is going or not going as the case may be.
benb
· 1 year ago
So if I have a nude picture of myself when I was 12 ....can I be prosecuted for possessing Child Pornography? If I scan it and put it on my cell phone as my background image, can they take me into custody at the border?
Maldoror
· 1 year ago
Get help. I can read between the lines.
benb
· 1 year ago
You only think you can.
Maldoror
· 1 year ago
I have a James Bond-style security system on my laptop. It explodes whenever there is unauthorized access.
But how do I explain that to the TSA guys?
KISSman
· 1 year ago
This kind of thing is totally wrong. And the thing is that there is no standard in place in what to do with whatever they extract from your computer or phone. And, of course, every single person at these jobs is of the highest ethical standard... right? It only takes one rotten apple to do some unscrupulous things with people's private photos, info, etc.
John McCain would probably support something like this and he doesn't even know how to use a computer. He would have no concept of the violation that takes place in such a search.
I also notice how "intellectual property" is one of the things that the gov't cites as a law they have to enforce at the border. Yes, the government will be going on your computer and digging through your music folders to scrutinize your MP3 collection because that's important business.
This is complete nonsense.
AngelaChanning
· 1 year ago
If a business traveler has confidential customer information and then it is searched by the TSA, the business traveler must comply with the search thereby creating a data breach. We have already heard stories of TSA agents stealing things out of suitcases - with no oversight a laptop could be a treasure trove -- all one needs is a USB memory stick. It is so messed up that most corporate legal departments don't know what to do other than to say don't take your laptop! Thank you for listening.
cowboyneok
· 1 year ago
Although I'm a HUGE privacy advocate. I've totally given up on having any kind of privacy any more. My solution has been to just admit everything I've done up front. No matter how embarassing. If someone finds out then I just admit it. I don't even hesitate. Its sad I come from a country who claims we are "free" and I know there is NOTHING my government can't find out about me. NOTHING, and when I say NOTHING I mean ABSOLUTELY NOTHING!
We've past the time where American have true privacy. Its over. I will NEVER get over my lack of privacy but I know its already happened.
cowboyneok
· 1 year ago
This subject "privacy" is about EVERY American. Its why the 2000 election was so important. Its why in response to Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, I will never just "get over" George W. Bush being selected as President. This is the type of thing that occurs when the people no longer have the power to elect our leaders.
Hangtown Danile
· 1 year ago
Why cross the boarder at a boarder crossing anyway? The boarder is so full of holes you can get back one of a 100 other ways coming in from Mexico or Canada...
Hangtown Danile
· 1 year ago
Every terrorist I know keeps his secret plans on his laptop....or on a folded piece of paper in his shoes. Why Bother???? The reality of it is, they would not need a plan. #1) Just get into the USA (Not at all hard to do) #2) Find a "Soft Target" (Also not hard to do) #3) Contrive a means to blow it to hell and gone. (Also not hard to do)
It would be very simple for me to get some low order explosives (Very simple to make if you know the right mix of chemicals) Bike over to Folsom Damn with a pair of bolt cutters.. And BOOM! Then the News coverage will tell all of my buddies to go out and hit there targets and before you can say Ala-wa-Akbar the Great Satin is on his knees begging for the chance to talk it out. As the talks get going the next round of attacks go off... Ladies hope you have your headdresses ready... I hope this never happens, the best beard I can grow just makes me look scruffy...
Bubbles
· 1 year ago
perhaps the government hasn't learned about removable, remote drives.
Whatever you got going on on your box doesn't need to be on your laptop's hard drives. I keep most of my entertainment on a remote drive because it eats space. But if I were engaged in illicit activity, I'd do something similar.
eleventhwheel
· 1 year ago
As a lifetime liberal, and an old man and a fairly technologically savvy one at that, I take exception to your statement "This is what happens when old men, like John McCain, frankly, try to make important decisions about new technology. They don't understand it, so they screw up." You have assumed without proof a characteristic of someone you don't like (McCain) and applied it generally to a class of people you obviously don't like (old men), probably because one of our number drove too slowly ahead of you. It's all a conspiracy headed by our leader, George Carlin (age 71)--we do this just to piss off 35-year-old arrogant dicks. I have noticed, by the way, that blatant ageism is fairly common in liberal blogs. Arrogant dickness, however, just seems to be common to all young whipper-snappers of whatever ideological stripe.
DavidinChelseaMA
· 1 year ago
Sounds like a conspiracy by the computer industry lobbyists. They want all of us to have to buy TWO computers - one for home and one for travel.
sa2968
· 1 year ago
This is called a border search. It is, and has been, an exception to the need for probable cause or reasonable suspicion long before George Bush stole his first election. Anyone trying to enter the US from abroad can be searched along with their property. The US has a right to secure its borders and prevent the introduction of contraband into the country. Now, you can refuse to be searched but the consequence is that you cannot come in. Why are we getting all worked up about this? No one ever said that a right to privacy is absolute. Some minor inconveniences are necessary for the greater good of the country. I don't think allowing Border Agents to search our laptops is too much to ask.
blackwolf
· 1 year ago
Of course it's too much to ask. There has t o be a measure of privacy, otherwise, where will it all end?
paulbe
· 1 year ago
McCain is Reagen two. A demented old fool who will be easily controlled by the bastards that really run America (and the world).
paulbe
· 1 year ago
"when old men, like John McCain," read it agin SA. It says LIKE McCAIN. Not all old men are like McCain. The fact that you are posting here and not shitting on your keyboard thinking its a toilet says that you are not like McCain.
paulbe
· 1 year ago
Er, eleventh wheel. god there are just so many of you!
All Comments
I don't have much to hide, like you do, so I don't think about it much. There are some pretty juicy e-mails that I wouldn't want published. But, KayInMaine has all of those in her files anyway.
Arrange to borrow a computer at your destination and leave yours home.
Portable USB flash drive on your keychain....
Companies whose employees travel overseas have also criticized the inspections, saying that the search of electronic devices could hurt their businesses.
If the business lobby starts complaining, look out.
If we could figure out a way to get around the inspections, a terrorist wouldn't have much problem.
........ or a campaign strategy. Or, a business model you don't want Exxon prying into...... or.........
Hook one of these on your bunch of keys...TSA idiots would never notice what it is...there is even one disguised as a lipstick case on this site...
This is another arm of the booming industry of identity theft and could be a new form of business espionage.
By a reporter in Afghanistan who got ahold of an old computer used by Al Qaeda during Taliban days.
http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200409/cullison
Not to be missed in this story is that your computer can be seized and held for weeks or months.
I'd like to hear from Obama about this snooping...altho maybe his take on FISA tells us. :(
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/usel...
Are you aware that since the Bush/Cheney dynasty there are well over 200 internment camps that have been built all over the United States? Just google US detention camps, or US concentration camps and see what you find. They are up and running just waiting for "illegal aliens or perhaps, dissenters of this president's administration or maybe, once Martial Law has been implemented all of the people who try and question or fight this government will be called terrorists or those against this country. It won't take much to move us into camps. They will not need football fields etc. I know it sounds crazy, but check it out on Google.
On the bright side, once we're locked up we won't have to buy gas or groceries.
But how do I explain that to the TSA guys?
John McCain would probably support something like this and he doesn't even know how to use a computer. He would have no concept of the violation that takes place in such a search.
I also notice how "intellectual property" is one of the things that the gov't cites as a law they have to enforce at the border. Yes, the government will be going on your computer and digging through your music folders to scrutinize your MP3 collection because that's important business.
This is complete nonsense.
We've past the time where American have true privacy. Its over. I will NEVER get over my lack of privacy but I know its already happened.
The boarder is so full of holes you can get back one of a 100 other ways coming in from Mexico or Canada...
The reality of it is, they would not need a plan.
#1) Just get into the USA (Not at all hard to do)
#2) Find a "Soft Target" (Also not hard to do)
#3) Contrive a means to blow it to hell and gone. (Also not hard to do)
It would be very simple for me to get some low order explosives (Very simple to make if you know the right mix of chemicals)
Bike over to Folsom Damn with a pair of bolt cutters..
And BOOM!
Then the News coverage will tell all of my buddies to go out and hit there targets and before you can say Ala-wa-Akbar the Great Satin is on his knees begging for the chance to talk it out.
As the talks get going the next round of attacks go off...
Ladies hope you have your headdresses ready...
I hope this never happens, the best beard I can grow just makes me look scruffy...
Whatever you got going on on your box doesn't need to be on your laptop's hard drives. I keep most of my entertainment on a remote drive because it eats space. But if I were engaged in illicit activity, I'd do something similar.