No Need to Cyberspy; Government Officials Can Simply Confiscate Your Laptop

[marmar]

via truthdig:


No Need to Cyberspy; Government Officials Can Simply Confiscate Your Laptop
Posted on Jan 2, 2014


With all the leaks revealed thanks to whistle-blower Edward Snowden, we’re finally all pretty aware that most of our digital data is impossible to keep private. For this eye-opening information that’s opened up an important conversation about Internet privacy, the whole world is without a doubt indebted to Snowden.

But did you know, even without fancy software, border officials can seize your computer whenever they feel like it?

And thanks to Judge Edward R. Korman, who recently threw out a case pertaining to this exact issue, U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers will continue to be able to search through your private data to their hearts’ content. The Daily Dot reports:

On Tuesday, a federal judge dismissed a 2010 case challenging the U.S. government’s broad authority to search and seize electronic devices at international borders without a warrant. It’s a decision that has stymied the cause of the American Civil Liberties Union and other privacy advocates who have resisted the erosion of Fourth Amendment rights at airports and border crossings.

The case was brought by Pascal Abidor, a dual U.S.-French citizen who was detained in May 2010 while returning aboard an Amtrak train to the United States from school in Canada.

Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers searched Abidor’s laptop computer after discovering that he was an Islamic Studies student who had recently lived in Jordan and traveled to Lebanon. Upon discovering images of Hamas and Hezbollah on Abidor’s laptop (part of a research project), CBP officers further searched his computer, cellphone, and person. They ultimately wound up putting Abdor in a holding cell for three hours. .........................(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.truthdig.com/eartotheground/item/no_need_to_cyber-spy_government_officials_can_simply_confiscate_your_laptop

http://www.truthdig.com/eartotheground/item/no_need_to_cyber-spy_government_officials_can_simply_confiscate_your_laptop

[RC]

1. The solution is to get your own web site to upload your data to, before crossing any borders.

Have nothing on your laptop except the basic programs you need. And even then, make sure you are more than 100 miles from any border, or coast.