My advice for you is not to bring your laptop. Here is why:

http://www.eff.org/press/archives/2008/06/23

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Vega$Man,

Vega$Man ~ That sounds like very good advice, what bizarre behaviour.

Who are the E.F.F.? Are they a legitimate foundation? As I am not from the U.S. I have not heard of them & therefore find it difficult to make any sort of judgement. If any of our friends from over the pond can provide background info I would be most intrested as for all I know they (the E.F.F.) may be a group of crackpots.

Vegas$Man, This has been going on for some time now, and we have advised all of our employees not to keep any confidential company information on their laptops when traveling internationally.

Dimpz...

I ran a quick check on Electronic Frontier Foundation to see if they were listed with the IRS (Internal Revenue Service).

Results: They were listed as a "charity" in IRS Publication 78, so they actually exist.

Thanks Cat's ~ It is just the fact that, as we both know, there are a lot of crackpot enterprises out there & I choose not to lend credence to, or comment on them if I can help it. They may exist but are their comments trustworthy or reliable?

Dimpz...

As for their comments, my guess is they probably lean more to what they like to project, if you know what I mean. Trustworthy or reliable you say? Who knows? They are not for me.

Cats ~ Too many organisations have a drum to beat & we need to know what or why that is before we can take their comments on board. Accepting blindly is not for me.

If there was anything "fishy" about this group, I doubt they'd get as far as testifying at a hearing by a Senate committee of the United States. The Home Securities Bill gives widespread allowances to search all internet sites.

In light of this, two years ago, all Canadian Universities withdrew from participating in research shared between the two countries' bases of knowledge rather than be at the mercy of possible invasion of their networks from Homeland Security. One does not have to accept it or believe it. It's all verifiable if one cares to look it up.

For those of you who can access the Los Angeles Times, on the first page of the Business section there is a big article about seizure of laptops by U.S. Customs. Again, this is not a new thing it has been going on for a time now.

Best advice is not to have anything on your laptop you don't want to share.

The problem is that they can copy data from the laptop however it is illegal because of copyright issues. just like you can't copy a software program from laptop to your desktop computer, that's illegal. Same way for US Customs but I am amazed they do have the power to do whatever they want to mess with the laptop. It is not right at all. That violated our 4th amendment!

quote:

Originally posted by Vega$Man:
The problem is that they can copy data from the laptop however it is illegal because of copyright issues. just like you can't copy a software program from laptop to your desktop computer, that's illegal. Same way for US Customs but I am amazed they do have the power to do whatever they want to mess with the laptop. It is not right at all. That violated our 4th amendment!

Unfortunately that is the law of your country, I presume these laws were implemented for the safety of all US residents.

I suggest that if you don't want to be hassled or have your laptop inspected that you leave it at home.

quote:

Originally posted by Vega$Man:
The problem is that they can copy data from the laptop however it is illegal because of copyright issues. just like you can't copy a software program from laptop to your desktop computer, that's illegal. Same way for US Customs but I am amazed they do have the power to do whatever they want to mess with the laptop. It is not right at all. That violated our 4th amendment!

Vega$man: I believe there are several aspects of the Homeland Security Act which skate very close to violating your constitutional guarantees, but I suppose this has to be challenged and debated in the Supreme Court, no?

I took my small laptop and so pleased i did - i was able to have free internet access in many european and GB hotels - also downloaded and cleaned up our days photo shoots each night before bed - never once was i asked to turn it on at any border (17 countries visited) I had transferred all personal information before leaving Aussie.

I always take my laptop with me when I travel to the UK. I take a large number of photos and I want to be able to preview them and dump them to my iPod while on tour. I also like to have access to the Internet while I'm touring.

This "new" Homeland Security paranoia is why I will NOT be traveling to the USA for many years to come.

The last time I went to the US, I found the questions I was being asked before I boarded the plane to be more and more invasive of my privacy, including "Why did you live with your mother?" I don't see how the question was relevant to me traveling to the US, especially when I have a Canadian passport, born in Canada, and I'm standing on Canadian soil and I have this US Customs Agent getting ready to deny me access to a flight because I ask, "How is that relevant?"

Not only can US Customs Agents take your laptop, they can take your iPod, a USB drive, a phone, a camera's storage card, or any other electronic device away from you, without reason and keep it as long as they want to AND make copies of the contents and spread those around to anyone they please. They can also, without reason, force you to empty your pockets and confiscate anything they find including "pieces of paper," just in case you've written down your illicit contact's phone number, I guess.

It's paranoia like this that makes the "terrorists" smile every time they read about it. The USA is doing more damage to itself with this "Homeland Security" nonsense than any "terrorist" ever did. OK, protect yourself, but when you start invading people's privacy like they're doing, you're manufacturing your own "terror."

Until this sort of stupidity stops, I will not be traveling into the USA unless I'm absolutely forced to for business reasons.