In 2008, it came to light that Homeland Security had the authority to take your laptop, hold it indefinitely, and search it whenever without warrant or probable cause. Last week, a judge rightly ruled that that’s bananas. More »
The Australian Sex Party – which is a trade group, not a fun Friday night – has risen up against new Australian customs rules that allow officials to search your personal electronics for pornography. Even Crocodile DunDD? Outrage! More »
Your laptop, mobile phone or camera can still be seized at the US border without suspicion of wrongdoing, but new guidelines require border protection and customs to take a maximum of 5 and 30 days, respectively, to complete searches. More »
A 62-year-old tourist was trying to enter the United States when he was stopped at customs to have his fingerprints scanned. This was a problem for both him and the customs agents, for he had no fingerprints.
When will these people get a clue? News.com.au is reporting that the next time you travel with your iPod, those friendly customs officials could pull you aside, slap on the latex and give your iPod a full-body cavity search for pirated music.
The push – which originates from the RIAA in the US – is global in scale, and the Australian government has openly admitted it is partaking in the discussions (although they haven’t agreed to any aspect of the arrangement).
There’s also a lot of confusion over exactly what will be considered as commercial levels of piracy.
If the government is foolish enough to vote this draconian ruling in, I think it would be a good time to join one of those floating communities in the Pacific… How the government can even be considering such a stupid proposition is beyond me.
You already knew that customs officials can search your laptop if they feel like it, detaining you if you refuse, but what can you do to protect yourself from random dudes checking out your vacation pics? The EFF has some tips. There’s having multiple encrypted partitions, having secure passwords, shutting off your machine before searches and destroying naughty stuff semi-permanently with shredding applications. Hit up the link for more privacy tips. [EFF]
