According to new federal regulations issued last month by the Bush administration, Federal agents may take a traveler's laptop or other electronic device to an off-site location for an unspecified period of time without any suspicion of wrongdoing. Homeland Security officials said that the newly disclosed policies apply to anyone entering the country, including U.S. citizens.
Officials may also share copies of the laptop's contents with private entities for language translation, data decryption or other reasons. "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 also confirmed that federal officers may "detain" laptops "for a reasonable period of time" to "review and analyze information", and may seize and search any devices without any "individualized suspicion."
And it's not just laptops, folks. The policies cover "any device capable of storing information in digital or analog form," including hard drives, flash drives, cell phones, iPods, pagers, beepers, and video and audio tapes. They also cover "all papers and other written documentation," including books, pamphlets and "written materials commonly referred to as 'pocket trash' or 'pocket litter.' "
Reasonable measures must be taken to protect business information and attorney-client privileged material, the policies say, but there is no specific mention of the handling of personal data such as medical and financial records.
"They're saying they can rifle through all the information in a traveler's [possession] without having a smidgen of evidence that the traveler is breaking the law," said Greg Nojeim, senior counsel at the Center for Democracy and Technology. Notably, he said, the policies "don't establish any criteria for whose computer can be searched."
Customs Deputy Commissioner Jayson P. Ahern (who apparently has never read the Constitution) said the efforts "do not infringe on Americans' privacy."
Wake up people-- King George has systematically stripped away our basic rights and freedoms in the name of this phony "war" on terror. Bin Laden is still on the loose while W's corporate cronies have enriched themselves at the world's expense. George the Simpleton is wholly incapable of mastering the intricacies of government, so he has methodically engineered an Executive Branch "power grab" to make his job easier. We have less than 100 days for enough people to realize that this country is headed in the wrong direction and vote for change.
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