Bush's Search Policy For Travelers' [Laptops, Cameras, iPods, Cellphones] Is Kept

Source: Washington Post

Obama Officials Say Oversight Will Grow

By Ellen Nakashima
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, August 28, 2009

The Obama administration will largely preserve Bush-era procedures allowing the government to search -- without suspicion of wrongdoing -- the contents of a traveler's laptop computer, cellphone or other electronic device, although officials said new policies would expand oversight of such inspections.

The policy, disclosed Thursday in a pair of Department of Homeland Security directives, describes more fully than did the Bush administration the procedures by which travelers' laptops, iPods, cameras and other digital devices can be searched and seized when they cross a U.S. border. And it sets time limits for completing searches.

But representatives of civil liberties and travelers groups say they see little substantive difference between the Bush-era policy, which prompted controversy, and this one.

"It's a disappointing ratification of the suspicionless search policy put in place by the Bush administration," said Catherine Crump, staff attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union. "It provides a lot of procedural safeguards, but it doesn't deal with the fundamental problem, which is that under the policy, government officials are free to search people's laptops and cellphones for any reason whatsoever."

Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/27/AR2009082704065.html

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Think Progress are also covering this: http://thinkprogress.org/2009/08/28/obama-bush-laptop/">Obama Administration To Preserve Bush-Era Policy Of Intrusive Laptop Searches

Just fill in the blank.

This policy is for people who are coming into the USA from another country, it's not saying they can come search my laptop whenever they feel like. I'm sure I'll be corrected if I'm wrong, but hasn't the US border patrol always been allowed to search any vehicles,luggage, or other personal effects of people coming into this country?

has ceased his yearly pleasure visits to the U.S. He's a PhD, an MD and speaks several languages and was APPALLED by his treatment upon his last arrival (several years ago) in NYC. He will only come for business now.

Stockholm Syndrome. :)

By the "Present Occupant"

I think they take some sort of perverse pride in it.

It created jobs for all kinds of people who are "right-thinking" and not qualified to do anything more creative and productive.

Contrast the Homeland Security program with Carter's vision of FEMA which, had it been realized, would have coordinated emergency services for Katrina, the wildfires in the west, the tornadoes in the midwest and all of the other emergencies we face on a regular basis -- including outbreaks of violence of all kinds. Carter's plan required flexibility and a comprehensive response to events. Bush's plan focused on one specific type of danger. Ironically, the evil that Bush spent so much time and money protecting us against is one of the rarest occurrences -- terrorism.

On the other hand, really bad wildfires every year here in California. And terrorism in families in the form of domestic violence including violence against children is commonplace. Yet we do very little to educate people about how to avoid domestic violence.

I'm not saying that the 9/11 type of terrorism isn't important. I'm not saying that precautions should not be taken. It's just a matter of balance. So many resources are invested in trying to prevent terrorists at the borders of the U.S., but so little is spent trying to prevent forest fires in the west. It just seems irrational.

Gotta make the job fun! :sarcasm:

and then he was taken to a room where he waited for an hour, and was then allowed to continue his travels. He has no idea WTF the problem was, but hey, he's Swedish. That kind of shit doesn't happen over there.

I've traveled all over the world and haven't had to deal with anything like that. Sure, now I'm used to taking off my shoes and being subjected to a humiliating search of my luggage but it isn't the way it used to be. And "folks" are still nuts... I think it's a permanent change for the awful.

containing our possessions. We had been in Europe for many years and owned two items of East German manufacture. We had bought them quite legally. We they were obviously used. One was a metronome which had been very carefully packed. It was broken to the point of uselessness. The other was a set of binoculars. They were very sturdy and had survived the trip, but their case was torn to the point that it could not be used. Those were the only two of all of our possessions that had suffered in our move. Coincidence? Maybe, maybe not. It was very strange.

and permanently store them, which is what this Bush policy amounts to. they weren't allowed to develop your film, and then keep copies of your photos, and they weren't allowed to make copies of your cassette tapes and store them, all without any reasonable suspicion, and all without you being able to force them to destroy their copies if nothing suspicious was found.

it is at border crossings and other points of entry, where they can search your butthole if they want - and always could.

Before going to the US for a visit a few years back, I loaded my iPod with anti-war, anti-Bush, and anti-fascists tunes - just in case.

just f'ing great. :grr:

I DID NOT VOTE FOR A CONTINUATION OF BUSH POLICIES. THAT IS NOT CHANGE!

My apologies for the caps, but man, it's frustrating.

This is NOT change!

For a Constitutional Professor you sure do violate it frequently.
:banghead:

I accept looking in luggage...that's reasonable,
but you can't hide a gun in a cell phone.

We're all suspected El-Ciaduh spies now,
just like witches in Salem and Reds under the bed.

Are you wanting security over freedom?
You know what they say.

As for security, I don't know if it will make anyone more secure or not.

I travel internationally a lot. Sometimes they search me thoroughly and sometimes they wave me through and look at nothing. I have never had them search any electronic equipment all during the Bush and now Obama years. And as I have always assumed they could do a body cavity search on me I have never expected, nor been entitled to 4th amendment protections entering the country through a port or land border crossing.

So I don't see very much security or freedom in this issue at all.

Border Searches .--''That searches made at the border, pursuant to the longstanding right of the sovereign to protect itself by stopping and examining persons and property crossing into this country, are reasonable simply by virtue of the fact that they occur at the border, should, by now, require no extended demonstration.'' 87 Authorized by the First Congress, 88 the customs search in these circumstances requires no warrant, no probable cause, not even the showing of some degree of suspicion that accompanies even investigatory stops. 89 Moreover, while prolonged detention of travelers beyond the routine customs search and inspection must be justified by the Terry standard of reasonable suspicion having a particularized and objective basis, 90 Terry protections as to the length and intrusiveness of the search do not apply"

http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/data/constitution/amendment04/04.html

This Corrupted DLC Part 2 Administration will never give up any powers granted by the previous administration without a big fight. Just like they will refuse to enforce laws that are already on the books that would limit their own power and set a precedent for future abuses.

People are so stupid in this regard. They use emotional cues that permit violations of the Constitution, while ignoring the fact that once a government or agency has legal cover, they will use it and ultimately abuse it.

It's not about Republican or Democrat anymore. It's about the survival of a Capitalist System without any checks and balances, writing its own rules and regulations, and gathering yet more power that it can use to keep the FRAUD alive.

The Corporations are in FULL control at this point. It is no longer the Government we are "Trusting" to do the right thing. We have a bunch of Coroporate embedded CEO's running the departments that were intitially set up to prevent unethical excess, but have been compromised to the point where we all get screwed.

In the Military, if a password is Compromised, the standard operating procedure is to change all the passwords, regardless just to be safe. It's time the American people start thinking about changing the passwords, and taking away the keys to the candy store.

never mind... :grr:

to prevent bad stuff (!) from entering the country? of course not - there's a gazillion ways to move electronic data across borders. so then what? you decide.

I always enjoy having 7-11-clerks-turned-border-guard rummage through my belongings.

Plus, if they find a picture of your 1-year-old in the bathtub, they can confiscate your brand new laptops for child porn.

Just think how much revenue the TSA Goons can generate in a year by stealing laptops and I-Phones?

drip-drip-drip-drip.. this is the sound of your freedom going down the drain.. one drop at a time.

my husband showed my passport instead of his own and the ever-vigilant TSA didn't notice it. Hubby did, and was about to explain and drag out his driver's license when they waved him through. We have different surnames and don't look a damned thing like each other.

:banghead:

...in exchange for the right to be strip-searched by a Drew Barrymore look-alike!:evilgrin:

Crossing the border. That's why they aren't allowed to look through your luggage or your car - at least not until Bush and his twin Obama.

But now since flying NW requires having to go through US customs and potentially be subject to this shit I always fly Air Canada and bypass the US.

As if US airlines are not already having enough trouble. Mind you Air Canada needs the business badly too.

Never voting for this liar again.

He actually promised not to search computers entering the country?

You voted for him the first time?

Damn you Obama! Seriously, when did you ever have a 4th Amendment privilege GOING THROUGH CUSTOMS AND IMMIGRATION AT A BORDER OR PORT? Jeez.

That's the whole fucking point.

I had the 14th Amendment in my head and I just typed "privilege" as in "privileges and immunities." Now that we have cleared that up, when have 4th amendment protections applied when entering the country? Huh?