Beware if you travel with a laptop, iPhone, PDA, etc.

[Don Shreve]

Here's another outrage perpetrated by our government; a secret until it was exposed by the last vestiges of a "free press".

Travelers' Laptops May Be Detained At Border (washingtonpost.com)

I just wrote to both my senators, by US rep, the TSA & Customs, as if it will make any difference.

[Thomas Bliss]

Originally Posted by Don Shreve

Here's another outrage perpetrated by our government; a secret until it was exposed by the last vestiges of a "free press".

Travelers' Laptops May Be Detained At Border (washingtonpost.com)

I just wrote to both my senators, by US rep, the TSA & Customs, as if it will make any difference.

I read about this the other day and was shocked!

Here is the deal, if you try to take my laptop without cause, then you are going to have to arrest me. I'll let them arrest me and take me to jail before I let them take my gear.

Thomas

[MossPhotography]

At the end of the article it states: "In April, the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in San Francisco upheld the government's power to conduct searches of an international traveler's laptop without suspicion of wrongdoing." I'm thinking the if the 9th "Circus" Court of Appeals sees nothing wrong with it, we shouldn't worry. The 9th is the most screwed up, goofy, liberal Appeals Court in the country.

It is my assumption that the statute is there for the TSA (trust me, I'm no fan of the TSA) to use on seriously suspicious people. This gives them a tool that is ACLU-proof to deal with potential issues, terrorist or otherwise. Most TSA and DHS rules and regs are just to make Joe Traveler feel safe anyway. If you wanted to smuggle something into this country, or onto an airplane, there are plenty of ways to accomplish this.

Go ahead and write to Washington officials, but as you say Don, "as if it will make any difference".

Interesting article though. Thanks for pointing it out, I hadn't heard of it before, and I've traveled internationally with all of the above, plus CF cards. I wonder if memory cards are on the list? Oops, maybe I shouldn't have mentioned that on this forum. I guess I shouldn't be too worried, I'm sure there isn't anyone in Washington reading tedious technical forums like this one.

By the way Thomas, concerning you last sentence. If they do, they will.

LOL :-)


~V~

[Don Shreve]

Aswers.com definition of "liberal"- "The state or quality of being liberal.
A political theory founded on the natural goodness of humans and the autonomy of the individual and favoring civil and political liberties, government by law with the consent of the governed, and protection from arbitrary authority."

Of course, one could dismiss this definition as one being perpetrated by the "liberal" media.
But I tend to think if the court is "liberal", that's a good thing. But given this definition, it would seem just the opposite.
You can bet that if you don't look like an American-born caucasian, (substitute the word "Arian", or "Conservative" here & see how it feels), you'll be "suspect", and at risk for having your gear seized. It's much easier to adopt this approach than to pursue genuine bad guys with demonstrated, provable evidence of a threat.
It's a trend that has to stop at some point. You can bet that the public mindset of "Just trust us, we're trying to protect you" is exactly the blind ignorance the US government is trying to foster through the public disinformation campaign so well funded by our taxes.

I don't trust them not to pull me aside & seize my gear; I don't trust them to not collect the names & addresses of anyone I've corresponded with; I don't trust them not to look at every web site I've bookmarked to see if I've been reading "terrorist" propaganda. In NO way does ANY of this make ANY of us safer, and it's yet one more step toward the total loss of personal privacy & freedom. It's just the final straw for me. It will likely take much more invasive action to get Joe Public riled up enough to take to the streets like they do in Europe when the government oversteps its bounds. But if Joe Public was truly educated & able to demonstrate the ability to question authority & independently investigate the issues, we'd never be in this position.

[Thomas Bliss]

Originally Posted by MossPhotography

At the end of the article it states: "In April, the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in San Francisco upheld the government's power to conduct searches of an international traveler's laptop without suspicion of wrongdoing." I'm thinking the if the 9th "Circus" Court of Appeals sees nothing wrong with it, we shouldn't worry. The 9th is the most screwed up, goofy, liberal Appeals Court in the country.

It is my assumption that the statute is there for the TSA (trust me, I'm no fan of the TSA) to use on seriously suspicious people. This gives them a tool that is ACLU-proof to deal with potential issues, terrorist or otherwise. Most TSA and DHS rules and regs are just to make Joe Traveler feel safe anyway. If you wanted to smuggle something into this country, or onto an airplane, there are plenty of ways to accomplish this.

Go ahead and write to Washington officials, but as you say Don, "as if it will make any difference".

Interesting article though. Thanks for pointing it out, I hadn't heard of it before, and I've traveled internationally with all of the above, plus CF cards. I wonder if memory cards are on the list? Oops, maybe I shouldn't have mentioned that on this forum. I guess I shouldn't be too worried, I'm sure there isn't anyone in Washington reading tedious technical forums like this one.

By the way Thomas, concerning you last sentence. If they do, they will.

LOL :-)


~V~

It would go over oh so well, I can see it now. DHS/USCG-AUX Photographer arrested at Airport for refusing to hand over his Laptop to TSA. OMG! The fun I could have with that!

And the thing is.... I wouldnt tell them that I'm USCG/AUX. I would just let it happen.

[Don Shreve]

Good for you, Thomas. I'm with you, brother.

[MossPhotography]

Originally Posted by Don Shreve

Aswers.com definition of "liberal"- "The state or quality of being liberal.
A political theory founded on the natural goodness of humans and the autonomy of the individual and favoring civil and political liberties, government by law with the consent of the governed, and protection from arbitrary authority."

Sorry Don, I can't seem to find that definition there, at least as you have quoted it. Interesting play on words though.

My response was meant as a "this shouldn't worry anyone" type of post. I'm sorry if it offended you. It is interesting though, that such an innocent post, with it's obvious humor, has elicited such a drastic response. Not so much from the "quoted" definition, but from the rest of the post.

Do I trust my government 100%, NO. However, during times of conflict, it is necessary to suspend certain civil liberties temporarily. If someone is doing nothing wrong, then there should be no need for concern. Do I enjoy taking my shoes off when I fly just because some whacked out fanatical (I mention fanatical in order not to malign all Muslims) Muslim tried to blow up his tennis shoes? Absolutely not. However, in the grand scheme of things, it "ain't no big thing".

As far as substituting "Arian" or "Conservative" into your sentence, I'm not sure why I'd want to. "Conservative" is a label I proudly wear. "Arian" is a word with attachments that bring up too many negative connotations for most of the free world. I'm not quite sure why anyone would associate the two, unless they were trying to insult someone.

I assure you Don, that in no way, shape, or form, was I trying to insult anyone in my first post. If I were to have my laptop, PDA, cell phone, or any other item confiscated at a border crossing, there would be some serious explaining to do by someone who is in charge at the offending crossing. However, this isn't even going to cross my mind next time I re-enter this great country.

I humbly apologize for any consternation that may have been caused by misinterpretation of my previous post, and do so in advance of this one as well.

~V~