Should Border Agents Be Allowed To Search Laptops?

Pascal Abidor

You'll recall that last year Pascal Abidor, a 26-year-old doctoral student and dual U.S.-French citizen, was traveling back to Brooklyn from Montreal on an Amtrak train when a Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officer ordered him to turn on his laptop and enter his password so that his computer could be searched—during this time they kept Abidor in a cell before being releasing him without charge several hours later. (And without his computer.) The ACLU filed a lawsuit on his behalf, and Abidor says he fears the incident flagged him for life.

Abidor says two weeks later he went to Britain to visit his girlfriend, and when he came back he was searched and questioned for an hour at the Newark airport in New Jersey. "You could see the guy react as soon as he scanned my passport and the message came up," Abidor tells The Associated Press. "They went through everything, and asked the same questions: ’Are you Muslim, are you a convert, do you go to lectures?I have no control over who I am anymore. What I do with my life doesn’t matter. How I am perceived and how I want to be perceived are not connected anymore."

But responding to the lawsuit, the government insists border agents "are not subject to any requirement of reasonable suspicion, probable cause or warrant." And according to Homeland Security, computers are classified as "closed containers," and border agents are allowed to search them accordingly. According to the ACLU, they've searched them liberally—between October 2008 and June 2010, over 6,500 people traveling to and from the United States had their electronic devices searched at the border. Nearly half of these people were U.S. citizens like Abidor.

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By John Del Signore in News on March 21, 2011 5:31 PM

Comments [rss]

Guest

Can't you just refuse to give them your password? I mean, if they're going to hold you for an unspecified amount of time, why give them your password?

proudliberal1947

No where your coming from these Clowns are trying everything possible to extend the Power Base, I had the same thing happen in Texas, oh and the excuse was I had residule explosive markings on my hands, funny as soon as the computer was returned I was released. Then I really pissed them off and wiped my hard Drive in front of them, hee hee, had back up disc in my other disc. wonder if that pissed them off, gae me something to do while flying.

Guest

If they really wanted what was on that disk, wiping the hard drive would have had no effect. It takes multiple passes to get past the guv'ments goons.

proudliberal1947

It fluster the Brain Dead Anal retentive Idiot, Besides your dealing with a corporate GOON that has a intelligence to points below his or her show size, not really the smartess people in the world, dumb as a door knob I tell you dumb as a door knob.

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ANGRYGOD11

BTW, since when do federal employees have the authority to ask US citizens what is their religion? If an agent thinks a Muslim terrorist is going to tell the truth AFTER the flight, we are in worse hands than we thought.

nicemarmot

It's not really about terrorism anyway. They're looking for evidence of other crimes. The terrorism thing has always been nothing more than an excuse to chip away at people's rights.

I say this as someone who has never committed a crime, never been to the middle east, has no Muslim associates whatsoever, and does not have a common name they could be mixing up with someone else (plus I got married and changed my name and still get the same treatment), and who can also get no explanation from the FBI/TSA why I get the terrorist treatment every time I leave/enter the country. The only possible thing I can think of is that they think I'll commit some sort of other crime entirely - what crime that might be, I have no idea. And hey, how can they entrap me if I know what they're looking for?

ANGRYGOD11

Border agents are idiots. Anyone with something to hide can just put the info on a DVD entitled First Grade Graduation Party. Anyone can hide data on a cellphone, MP3 player or a chip smaller than a stamp. Free programs like True Crypt can have second set of passwords to hide evil things on another level these morons couldn't find. But why bother since the Internet enables almost anyone to send massive amounts of info without keeping anything on a laptop?

ohgodkillmenow

Can't wait for the first report of someone rightfully shooting one of these pigs point blank in the face. Fucking trash...where do they find these Nazis anyway, overflowing ranks of the NYPD?

Unkle_Bob

Is there no creativity here?

In preparation for the trip, set the background picture to the best (most vile) goatse picture you can find.

You can also spread some white gunk such as donut glaze over the keyboards, to make it look like certain dried bodily fluids.

Roger_the_Shrubber

What's on your pc has nothing to do wit the safety of the plane. Just another excuse to use terrorism to install a police state. The Stasi would be proud.

Roger_the_Shrubber

I can't believe I agree with the ACLU. I need a drink.

unretrofiedforu

::facepalm:: - this country is done.

Mordicai

NO bookstore should be allowed to search your laptop!

nicemarmot

I keep expecting them to do this to me, because there's some sort of flag on my name on all international travel I do. So I give my laptop to my husband and we pretend it's his. Seems to work so far. They sure didn't like it when I refused the nudie scanner though. Even when I pointed out they always pat me down anyway so why should I bother?