NO2ID

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/content/article/2008/08/01/laptops.html

The US of A is becoming a very scary place these days.

That is really terrifying. For anyone who relies on computers to manage their affairs, that is equivalent to breaking into their home and taking a copy of all their files: financial dealings, love letters, the works. They should need a warrant before undertaking anything so intrusive.

Not only are laptops be detained at the border, it is becoming widesespread at ALL points of entry in to the U.S.A that all electronic devices which store data are being copied, ipods, camphones, usb sticks etc etc. It is also becoming more prevalent that a number of people who work for the TSA have been found to be using that information which has been stolen by these crooks is being used to better themselves financially. So if you have anything whatsoever that you don't want stolen by these parasites then simple, don't take it through customs.

As someone recently pointed out home computing has mushroomed in a staggering fashion since NuLabour came to power. Will it be extinguished just as easily? I doubt it, but I can see a tailing off of the current enthusiasm if the multitude of digital devices we harbour turn out to be nothing more than keys for governments to access our lives. Either that or the concept of the right to privacy will have been destroyed for ever. No wonder Microsoft are worried about the whole ID card idea. The threat to their business may now be coming from the companies determined to force electronic surveillance upon whole populations rather than Mac or net distributed free software.

Justin.

The answer to this one is don't visit the USA. The government there is parnoid beyond belief. They abuse travellers, both to and from the country. They are descending towards a third-world dictatorship where freedoms are severely limited.

Stay away!

It's rather ironic that the Land of the Free and Home of the Brave (cough) treat everyone else so badly and then walk around with a hurt expression saying "Nobody likes us, we just can't understand it"

As has been said, the USA seems to becoming increasingly paranoid and unwelcoming, I can't think of any reason why I'd want to visit there. Not that Europe - with the UK leading the way - is much better.

There's also a horrible "do as we say, not as we do" attitude.

The policy is here

If you have to travel to the US with electronic devices etc then Bruce Schneier has some good advice here re encryption but the best thing is to put the encrypted data somewhere remote and then access it at your destination.

Storing private data in an ecrypted petition, as suggested by Bruce Schneier, is certainly a good way of attempting to get essential private data through customs. With reasonable luck the partition will not be discovered and you will not be required to divulge your password under the threat of being rendered for waterboarding.

The matter goes much further though, and we have to anticipate the future direction all this will take. Simply failing to cleanse your laptop of links to porn websites before travel may one day land you in trouble, particualarly if one of those porn websites turns out to be connected to any organisation having links to under-age websites etc etc. Or if a pig-ignorant hyper-agressive US customs official takes a dislike to you for any reason, it is quite reasonable to expect that any financial transactions evident from your laptop files may well come under the microscope to see if they can be classed under the ever-broadening definition of 'suspected money laundering'. Of course, at some point it will become very unwise to even think of entering the US with any music or video files for which there might be any suspicion of possible copyright theft. That time may well be just about arriving right now.

If you want an example of just how extreme and unreasoning the US authorities are prepared to get, think Gary McKinnon.

Unless you are a saint, it is difficult to be confident your laptop might not reveal something of interest to the US authorities. The result may just be a missed flight - or alternatively the start of a highly unpleasant chapter of one's life. Who knows? The US game is all about making things unpredictable.

I long ago gave up the idea of travelling to the US with a laptop - the writing has been on the wall for some time.

If you require access to private data from a distance then uploading your files is much safer, or using VPN to access your own PC via internet tunneling is surprisingly easy to set up (with Hamachi, etc).

The policy translates to : we will take what we like, whenever we feel like it, and will share it with anyone we please.