Another reason to stay at home

As if the cancelled and delayed flights, the awful service, and the general hassle weren't enough! Now US Customs agents are seizing and copying digital devices and media, apparently without cause:

The extent of the program to confiscate electronics at customs points is unclear. A hearing Wednesday before the Senate Committee on the Judiciary's Subcommittee on the Constitution hopes to learn more about the extent of the program and safeguards to traveler's privacy. Lawsuits have also been filed, challenging how the program selects travelers for inspection. Citing those lawsuits, Customs and Border Protection, a division of the Department of Homeland Security, refuses to say exactly how common the practice is, how many computers, portable storage drives, and BlackBerries have been inspected and confiscated, or what happens to the devices once they are seized. Congressional investigators and plaintiffs involved in lawsuits believe that digital copies -- so-called "mirror images" of drives -- are sometimes made of materials after they are seized by customs. . .

The security value of the program is unclear, critics say, while the threats to business and privacy are substantial. If drives are being copied, customs officials are potentially duplicating corporate secrets, legal records, financial data, medical files, and personal E-mails and photographs as well as stored passwords for accounts from Netflix to Bank of America. DHS contends that travelers' computers can also contain child pornography, intellectual property offenses, or terrorist secrets.

So airports are now rights-free zones? And as this US News article points out,

More troubling is what could happen if other countries follow the lead of the United States. Imagine, for instance, if China or Russia began a program to seize and duplicate the contents of traveler's laptops. "We wouldn't be in a position to strongly object to that type of behavior," Rotenberg says.

ADDENDUM: This makes the purchase of an ASUS EEE or the like very tempting. Light and compact, and cheap enough that it can be set aside for travel use only.

Posted by David on June 24, 2008 3:11 PM