DHS says it can search Laptops At Border Without Suspicion. Why? "Cuz we gotta."
My Brazilian friend sent me this article from the Washington Post this morning. (She is now questioning ever visiting the United States.)
Remember, this is the USA. We have a Constitution and a Bill of Rights that say we can NOT under any circumstances be searched without reasonable suspicion. We and travelers coming into this country put up with mildly invasive searching at the borders, but still, the governing principle is that we have privacy, and that we are innocent until we break the Law, taken to Court, and proved guilty through a process.
But now, the impatient DHS has gone mad, claiming "There are lots of bad things out there on computers! We gotta catch 'em!" Thanks to recent rule changes at the Department of Homeland Security, everyone's laptops are fair game. Note, they did not announce these changes -- only after "the public expressed interest" did they reveal them. WTF? We are not ruled by the Stasi in Communist Germany. Did you see The Lives of Others? Did you see that, without checks and balances, these unregulated searches become an excuse to stifle enemies of all sorts, be they political, romantic rivals, industry competition, or "I just don't like these people"? Don't you realize that there's no way to examine effectively 400 million laptops and that these untrained guards will falsely identify more problems that can possibly be countersued? Don't you see that the DHS's claim that "This won't hurt Americans" is bullshit -- other countries will develop blanket sweeps against us too when we travel abroad in retaliation? Aren't we tired of the "We gotta do this unconstitutional, China-like, Orwellian Law to protect us against terrorism" excuse this administration (both Democrat and Republican) spews out whenever there's the slightest dissent?
Is this really the America you want? The World you want? Do you truly want your computer or PDA or iPOD exposed when you travel? All those songs you don't have receipts or CDs for that now the RIAA will gladly sue you for $10s of thousands of dollars once they cut a deal with the DHS? All those non-compliant Windows XP installations that Microsoft would LOVE to know about and sue you for. Health care agencies eager to look for signs on your computer that you're not healthy enough for coverage or deserving of claims. Remember, this may start as a fight against terror but YOU have enemies too, and they will reap the benefits of these unregulated policies, I guarantee you.
Wake up America, this Bush Administration is slowly turning us into a totalitarian, corporate fascist state for the rich, only with better P.R. and marketing.
Federal agents may take a traveler's laptop computer or other electronic device to an off-site location for an unspecified period of time without any suspicion of wrongdoing, as part of border search policies the Department of Homeland Security recently disclosed.
Also, officials may share copies of the laptop's contents with other agencies and private entities for language translation, data decryption or other reasons, according to the policies, dated July 16 and issued by two DHS agencies, U.S. Customs and Border Protection and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
"The policies . . . are truly alarming," said Sen. Russell Feingold (D-Wis.), who is probing the government's border search practices. He said he intends to introduce legislation soon that would require reasonable suspicion for border searches, as well as prohibit profiling on race, religion or national origin.
DHS officials said the newly disclosed policies -- which apply to anyone entering the country, including U.S. citizens -- are reasonable and necessary to prevent terrorism. Officials said such procedures have long been in place but were disclosed last month because of public interest in the matter.
Read more here
Remember, this is the USA. We have a Constitution and a Bill of Rights that say we can NOT under any circumstances be searched without reasonable suspicion. We and travelers coming into this country put up with mildly invasive searching at the borders, but still, the governing principle is that we have privacy, and that we are innocent until we break the Law, taken to Court, and proved guilty through a process.
But now, the impatient DHS has gone mad, claiming "There are lots of bad things out there on computers! We gotta catch 'em!" Thanks to recent rule changes at the Department of Homeland Security, everyone's laptops are fair game. Note, they did not announce these changes -- only after "the public expressed interest" did they reveal them. WTF? We are not ruled by the Stasi in Communist Germany. Did you see The Lives of Others? Did you see that, without checks and balances, these unregulated searches become an excuse to stifle enemies of all sorts, be they political, romantic rivals, industry competition, or "I just don't like these people"? Don't you realize that there's no way to examine effectively 400 million laptops and that these untrained guards will falsely identify more problems that can possibly be countersued? Don't you see that the DHS's claim that "This won't hurt Americans" is bullshit -- other countries will develop blanket sweeps against us too when we travel abroad in retaliation? Aren't we tired of the "We gotta do this unconstitutional, China-like, Orwellian Law to protect us against terrorism" excuse this administration (both Democrat and Republican) spews out whenever there's the slightest dissent?
Is this really the America you want? The World you want? Do you truly want your computer or PDA or iPOD exposed when you travel? All those songs you don't have receipts or CDs for that now the RIAA will gladly sue you for $10s of thousands of dollars once they cut a deal with the DHS? All those non-compliant Windows XP installations that Microsoft would LOVE to know about and sue you for. Health care agencies eager to look for signs on your computer that you're not healthy enough for coverage or deserving of claims. Remember, this may start as a fight against terror but YOU have enemies too, and they will reap the benefits of these unregulated policies, I guarantee you.
Wake up America, this Bush Administration is slowly turning us into a totalitarian, corporate fascist state for the rich, only with better P.R. and marketing.
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