The Government Can Download Everything Off Your Computer At Border Crossings

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Before you travel out of the country, make sure you take a crusty old virus-ridden WinXP laptop with you....just for funsies. :D

The US Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Privacy Impact Assessment for the Border Searches of Electronic Devices outlines the finer points of border officials’ authority to search the electronic devices of citizens and non-citizens alike crossing the US border. What becomes clear is that this authority has been broadly interpreted to mean that any device brought into or out of the country is subject to the highest level of scrutiny, even when there is no explicit probable cause.
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Now would be a good time to market a micro sd type memory card that you can swallow and retrieve later. I don't think anything short of x-rays will detect such a small device inside your body yet.
 
DocSavage said:
Now would be a good time to market a micro sd type memory card that you can swallow and retrieve later. I don't think anything short of x-rays will detect such a small device inside your body yet.
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Or you could put it in your sock or something, they're not going to strip search every person coming into the country.
 
They can take any of your devices without a warrant and keep it for how ever long they want. You could never get the thing back so better to just setup an online access to stuff you want even if it is slower.
 
Well this is somewhat better than some of the crap that went on at LAX security in the mid 90s. I had to remove the keyboard from the laptop and explain the larger parts within. Damn near missed my flight because of the moron.
 
saw a guy at the supermarket yesterday wit a T shirt that said "the founding fathers would already be shooting"

I thought that was pretty bold to wear in public
 
Well if they can crack bitlocker, they can go nuts with my data. I think they'll find it wasn't worth the electricity to do so.
 
The Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution provides:

Nor shall any person . . . be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law . . .
Section One of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution provides:

Nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law . . . .
What law immunizes the border patrol from these parts of the Constitution?
 
jojo69 said:
saw a guy at the supermarket yesterday wit a T shirt that said "the founding fathers would already be shooting"
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They would be, and I wish the majority of the dumbass hippies in this country would wake the fuck up to what is going on.
 
NeghVar said:
The Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution provides:

Nor shall any person . . . be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law . . .
Section One of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution provides:

Nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law . . . .
What law immunizes the border patrol from these parts of the Constitution?
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Sadly, due process as envisioned in the Constitution is an antiquated notion that bears little resemblance to what is in effect today. Civil asset forfeiture, the ability of police to obtain a search warrant with little to no probable cause or worse, using blatantly false evidence, and of course shoot first, ask questions later arrest procedures, give law enforcement significantly more authority than was ever conceived at the time that the Constitution was ratified.
 
I always have a recent mirror of my laptop, if they tried this I would just smash the hdd on the spot. Nothing to hide, but I'll be damned if I let them know that without due process.
 
Hmmm, since I'm planning to take a trip out of the country in a few months, I find this interesting. Now, I don't want to take my smartphone with me. It can stay home. I don't need this hassle. But I'm thinking, I can buy a phone cheaply for my trip at my destination and just dump it before I come back into the U.S. I mean, that's what I'll pay to keep these yoyos from taking my existing phone and downloading everything off of it.
 
Dekoth-E- said:
I always have a recent mirror of my laptop, if they tried this I would just smash the hdd on the spot. Nothing to hide, but I'll be damned if I let them know that without due process.
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I bet you'd be held in contempt.
 
NeghVar said:
The Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution provides:
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Not to stir up a hornets nest... but I'll do it anyways.

Article III of the Constitution is what gives the US Supreme Court it's power, and SCOTUS ruled that checkpoint searches at international borders did not violate the 4th amendment
 
As a preferred traveler I have never triggered that level of security ... this is probably more a risk for those folks who are unwilling (or unable) to get preferred traveler status
 
NeghVar said:
The Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution provides:

Nor shall any person . . . be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law . . .
Section One of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution provides:

Nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law . . . .
What law immunizes the border patrol from these parts of the Constitution?
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Border_search_exception
 
If you travel out of the country often you would know that it's always been this way. You do not have any constitutional protections until you have passed through immigrations and customs checks. Until you do you are not yet within the borders of the United States. It's really interesting because that small area in international airports where you line up for immigration check is a sort of no man's land.
 
Your laptop is considered a threat if you're legally entering or exiting the country, yet you can illegally enter the country as long as you're not Canadian. I'm thinking South Park was right...
 
A laptop could be a threat, but threats are not the only issue at hand. Companies must pay taxes to move IP into or out of the country and some forms of encryption are not permitted for export, money laundering and other criminal activities to include kiddie porn are also illegal articles that would be of concern at a border crossing.

just saying, it's not all about Terrorism and those kinds of threats.
 
sfsuphysics said:
Or you could put it in your sock or something, they're not going to strip search every person coming into the country.
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Put it in your sock? There's a bit more classic place to hide stuff on your body!

jsYXKHM.jpg
 
Hope they don't scan my friends phone, if they do they won't survive the viruses it got lol.:D
 
OEM said:
They would be, and I wish the majority of the dumbass hippies in this country would wake the fuck up to what is going on.
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Can you explain to me, a fellow dumbass hippy in this country, what the fuck is going on? That is, if you are capable of speaking down to my level, oh superior omnipotent one.
 
splattered said:
Can you explain to me, a fellow dumbass hippy in this country, what the fuck is going on? That is, if you are capable of speaking down to my level, oh superior omnipotent one.
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I'd explain it to you if I wouldn't have to preface it with a comprehensive list of "trigger warnings" and scrubbing the document of all terms and phrases that might offend any of the thousands of victim identity groups.
 
amddragonpc said:
Hmmm, since I'm planning to take a trip out of the country in a few months, I find this interesting. Now, I don't want to take my smartphone with me. It can stay home. I don't need this hassle. But I'm thinking, I can buy a phone cheaply for my trip at my destination and just dump it before I come back into the U.S. I mean, that's what I'll pay to keep these yoyos from taking my existing phone and downloading everything off of it.
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or just wipe it on the flight back? or encrypt it in the first place, they can't force you to decrypt it. (well, legally anyway, but if they break out the rubber hose...)
 
No one is truly free in this country anymore. All these laws are there to control peoples freedoms. To allow the government to do what ever it wants. People in power can use those powers for good or for evil. When the government is corrupt then you know what those positions of power are used for. The power of people doesn't exist today. Too many people are asleep. Oblivious to the fact they have no rights and no constitution anymore. :cool:
 
Teenk9 said:
If you travel out of the country often you would know that it's always been this way. You do not have any constitutional protections until you have passed through immigrations and customs checks. Until you do you are not yet within the borders of the United States. It's really interesting because that small area in international airports where you line up for immigration check is a sort of no man's land.
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This is true. Customs on either side of the border will tell you that you if you don't agree to a search you are free to turn around and go back.
 
Step 1: Bitch and moan about how the Constitution is being violated, freedoms, laws, etc
Step 2: Bitch about people in power, who's power is given to them via the Constitution
Step 3: Not realize the irony in the bitching.
 
When I was in the Air Force coming back into the country from official business, I once had a U.S. Customs agent confiscate a secure U.S. Government laptop under this premise. It didn't have any sensitive information on it so I just let them have the damn thing. I informed my commander that the U.S. Government decided to confiscate it's own property so I technically I didn't lose it :D. He laughed and he said he'd handle it....we got a broken laptop back 3 years later.
 
As noted, nothing new, this same story gets recycled every few months as if it is some new fact.

I have traveled many times with laptops and phones and never once been stopped or searched.
 
Just make sure you fill your 4TB drive with Kitten pictures that have Puppy pictures hidden in them via steganography. Use different methods of encryption while you are at it.
 
Would be a good use for one of these:

http://kukuruku.co/hub/diy/usb-killer?ModPagespeed=noscript

Act stupid. Tell them a "computer wizard" set you up and you know nothing about computers.

In all seriousness, one would be crazy to actually bring a machine with data through the border or at an airport. Leave that shit at home where it's safe from prying eyes. If you need the data on the other side you VPN to your house and download it.
 
My entire laptop is encrypted. So, they download it, and? Am I legally required to give them the password or go to jail on the spot?

I haven't looked into this.
 
Germanium said:
My entire laptop is encrypted. So, they download it, and? Am I legally required to give them the password or go to jail on the spot?
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Pretty much. Maybe not jail, but a long dragged out court session until you give in and give them the password. Though I imagine it would lead to jail. "Obstructing with evidence" or something like that would probably be the clause.

There was a case like this maybe about a year ago, I forget the exact details but basically the person refused to give the password and ended up in court and stuff. Not sure what ever came out of it.

Basically, whatever trip you're on, consider it ruined. :p
 
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