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Comments: 1 +-   U.S. Confiscating Data at the Border-> on Thursday February 07 2008, @03:12AM PizzaFace

Submitted by PizzaFace on Thursday February 07 2008, @03:12AM
privacy
PizzaFace writes "U.S. Customs agents have long had broad authority to examine the things a person tries to bring into the country, to prevent the importation of contraband. The agents can conduct their searches without a warrant or probable cause to believe a crime has been committed. In recent years, Customs agents have begun using their authority to insist on copying data brought to the border on laptop computers, cell phones and other devices. The government claims that this intelligence-gathering by Customs is the same as looking in a suitcase, but there are differences. First, it's done to people leaving the country as well as those entering. Second, Customs doesn't just screen the data for contraband, but records huge volumes of private information and keeps it for future data-mining. Third, the owner of the data is deprived of the data, and the device on which it is held, for as long as Customs claims to need the device for copying, which may be forever."
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  • Can they access that form their most likely PC based computers? If they cannot, then what? Am I required to tell them how to do it? What if I have a particularly nasty Windows self actuating replicating data destruction type virus on my Mac, as defense against those who want to steal my data, and it gets into their system and it destroys their data base? Then what? Didn't they ask to copy all my data?
State the problem in words as clearly as possible