Re: Border searches (following up on Oscar Voss' post...)

On Aug 2, 7:45 pm, H.B. Elkins <hbelk...@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
wrote:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/content/article/2008/08/01/lapto...

Now I am all for increased national security, especially after 9/11, but this
borders on the ridiculous.

Who wants to bet that the majority of this scrutiny will be focused on Americans
returning from abroad, rather than foreigners entering this country? That just
isn't right.

What this in effect means is that I will now never get to visit Canada.
Routinely when I travel, I have the following with me: at least one and often
two laptops, a collection of hard drives and flash drives, a cellphone, a
digital camera, an iPhone, a GPS, a Palm handheld, my work BlackBerry, a video
camera. and a lot of paperwork. The amount of stuff I carry with me on roadtrips
would probably set off every alarm they have. I wouldn't want to be without any
of my personal electronics equipment for any amount of time, so the only way I
can avoid running the risk of having it confiscated is to either not take it
with me when I travel, which really isn't an option, or just not leaving the
country.

I wouldn't mind them copying or cloning my hard drive while I'm present, because
there's nothing bad on there, but I wouldn't want them to send me on my way
without my laptop.

Guess that means I'll never make an Ontario roadgeek meeting....

--
To reply by e-mail, remove the "restrictor plate"

I rarely keep anything important -- critical docs, etc. -- on my
laptop for this very reason. I have software that, at one touch of a
button, can scramble the contents of the entire hard drive, and make
it all but inaccessible to any law enforcement. Password protected,
but there wouldn't be much to see after that.

I've been following this up with the ACLU and some other civil right
organizations and you'd be surprised at how much they can do without
your authorization or knowledge.

It is almost safer to simply ship your laptop back if it contains
anything important.
.