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Department of Homeland Security can search through your laptop at border crossings
by Nicholas Deleon on August 1, 2008

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A more perfect union~!

How much do you trust the Department of Homeland Security? Like, a lot, or a lot lot? Doesn’t matter, really—it now has the right to riffle through your laptop, iPod and other electronic (and non-electronic) devices and documents when you cross a border coming into the U.S.

To Liberty!

Yes, the DHS now has the right to riffle through your junk at the border, all in the name of security, of course. What’s even more troubling—and it’s pretty damn troubling to begin with—is that the DHS can keep your stuff for as long as it wants (a “reasonable period of time,” reads the policy).

Oh, and you don’t even have to be suspected of any wrongdoing in order to have your stuff confiscated.

Several lawmakers are against the new policy, including Sen. Russell Feingold, who called the policy “truly alarming.” Indeed it is, Russ.

What exactly this means for your large collection of V0 MP3s and x264-encoded movies, who knows. Maybe you’ll luck out and they’ll only slap a gigantic fine on you. Wouldn’t surprise me.

Comments rss icon

  • Keith Richard Radford Jr - August 2nd, 2008 at 2:58 am PDT

    The boarder agents will impound your car. Strip search you, Tear up your auto, watch your videos, search through your lap top, say they were sorry. Their paranoia runs high. I mean you have been on look out before right, the raid on the left over cake with your brothers and sisters when mom and dad need to sleep in, or some such caper masterminded by you and that feeling you get when you just know, well these look outs on our boarders are in that mode and don’t even recognize the fact that they would not stand for it nor would they ever have to. Not less they fall from grace huh? Poor saps, like camp snitches used for chocolate and nylons.

  • do dhs have a website that you can look up someone name, to see if they are holding them there.

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