From the Washington Post:
Federal agents may take a traveler's laptop computer or other electronic device to an off-site location for an unspecified period of time without any suspicion of wrongdoing, as part of border search policies the Department of Homeland Security recently disclosed. Also, officials may share copies of the laptop's contents with other agencies and private entities for language translation, data decryption or other reasons, according to the policies, dated July 16 and issued by two DHS agencies, U.S. Customs and Border Protection and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. ... DHS officials said the newly disclosed policies -- which apply to anyone entering the country, including U.S. citizens -- are reasonable and necessary to prevent terrorism. Officials said such procedures have long been in place but were disclosed last month because of public interest in the matter. ....The policies cover "any device capable of storing information in digital or analog form," including hard drives, flash drives, cellphones, iPods, pagers, beepers, and video and audio tapes. They also cover "all papers and other written documentation," including books, pamphlets and "written materials commonly referred to as 'pocket trash' or 'pocket litter.'"
This sickens me. It sickens me. These people are handing the country over to the forces of darkness. Crap -- they are the forces of darkness. They'd merge quite nicely with the Spanish Inquisition.
2 comments:
I agree, Bill. This really disturbs me. It's a complete trampling of individual rights. I bet a lot of people won't even get their electronics back, particularly if the TSA agent needs a new ipod or laptop.
I tried to think of a reason why this would be a good idea, and I couldn't come up with a single one. Its pure and simple fishing, saying that the opinion of the government is more important than the rights of the people. It is despicable.
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