Interesting People mailing list archives
] re Good Read FBI avoids warrant by having TSA search computer at airport
From: Dave Farber <dfarber () me com>
Date: Wed, 21 Apr 2010 14:06:52 -0400
From: "Stanley, Jay" <JStanley () dcaclu org> To: <dave () farber net> Date: April 21, 2010 01:43:38 PM EDT Subject: RE: [IP] re Good Read FBI avoids warrant by having TSA search computer at airport One reason laptops should be "special" is that people rarely cross international borders with a lifetime of personal paper correspondence, photographs, reading matter, purchase records, etc., in their posession. Yet people routinely do so with laptops. The current law did not evolve based on that reality and as a result does not adequately balance different values. While it is true that one can be strip-searched at an international border, it requires a higher standard than rifling through a bag. That can only be done in the U.S. with reasonable suspicion. That is the same higher standard that should be applied to laptop searches. The powers of customs officers evolved to keep contraband goods out of the country -- and DHS officials have tried to frame the laptop issue in that light. But it seems silly to apply that to data, unless Customs claims the right to examine all digital "goods" that cross our nation's borders via the Internet. Otherwise, checking laptops of international travelers is like trying to monitor the trickle of water in a gutter while the Mississippi river flows nearby, unattended. In reality, this issue isn't about Custom's right to search and seize for contraband goods. It's actually about giving border agents sweeping new powers to peer into the lives of individuals crossing the border -- to an extent agents have never had in the past. That's what makes files on disks "so special." Jay Stanley Speech, Privacy and Technology program, ACLU -----Original Message----- From: David Farber [mailto:dave () farber net] Sent: Wednesday, April 21, 2010 12:44 PM To: ip Subject: [IP] re Good Read FBI avoids warrant by having TSA search computer at airport Begin forwarded message: From: Gene Spafford <spaf () cerias purdue edu> Date: April 19, 2010 4:53:37 PM EDT To: dave () farber net Cc: "ip" <ip () v2 listbox com> Subject: Re: [IP] Good Read FBI avoids warrant by having TSA search computer at airport Every country asserts that its agents have the right to inspect items coming across their borders. The US is not different. Furthermore, they may perform a "deep" inspection of your papers and luggage. So why do people think that laptops should somehow be "special"? If they can look at your papers, take apart your suitcase, and even perform a body cavity search before you enter the country, what makes those files on disk so special? And they may do the same in France, China, Brazil, Australia, Uganda, Israel, and.... so why single out the US? ------------------------------------------- Archives: https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/247/=now RSS Feed: https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/rss/247/ Powered by Listbox: http://www.listbox.com
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- ] re Good Read FBI avoids warrant by having TSA search computer at airport Dave Farber (Apr 21)