On 01 August the Washington Post  published an article entitled “Travelers’ Laptops May Be Detained At Border, No Suspicion Required Under DHS Policies.”   Basically the article states that Department of Homeland Security has the right to confiscate for an unspecified period of time and unspecified location any laptop computers entering the United States to evaluate for suspicious data or any alleged links to terrorism.  No probably cause or suspicion is required when opting to confiscate an individuals laptop.  This law has no discrimination and is applicable to both US citizens reentering the United States and foreign nationals.  Regardless of what the law may claim, of course (in my view) laptops will be confiscated for evaluation based on profiling such as nationality, race, religion, locations traveled.  Furthermore as the article states, information found on the laptop may be shared with numerous other agencies as well in the name of National Security.

Now if I were a business person returning from a business trip that just happened to be in the Middle East region (the UAE is prospering these days and an excellent place in which to do business for example) I would have strong objections to my laptop being apprehended for unspecified inspection.  How can one be assured their proprietary business data or financial data is secure?  Who makes the decision on whose email address book should be reviewed and shared?  And how will Saudis fare with these rulings?  Will the US government willingly provide the statistics on how many laptops are apprehended and provide breakdowns on nationalities?  I doubt it, for that would likely fall under “national security” and “Joe Public” does not have a need to know.

Reading this article makes it sound like the United States is becoming more of a police state not only outside but inside its borders as well.  All I can say is there better be credible threat evidence to invade privacy at this new level.

For those interested in reading the article themselves, click here…

Filed under: America, politics, travel | 20 Comments »