For no reason at all.

In May, Bruce Schneier wrote this:

Crossing Borders with Laptops and PDAs

Last month a US court ruled that border agents can search your laptop, or any other electronic device, when you're entering the country. They can take your computer and download its entire contents, or keep it for several days. Customs and Border Patrol has not published any rules regarding this practice, and I and others have written a letter to Congress urging it to investigate and regulate this practice.

Well, we now know the response:

Travelers' Laptops May Be Detained At Border
No Suspicion Required Under DHS Policies

Federal agents may take a traveler's laptop computer or other electronic device to an off-site location for an unspecified period of time without any suspicion of wrongdoing, as part of border search policies the Department of Homeland Security recently disclosed.

Also, officials may share copies of the laptop's contents with other agencies and private entities for language translation, data decryption or other reasons, according to the policies, dated July 16 and issued by two DHS agencies, U.S. Customs and Border Protection and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Basically, they can take any electronic or other device capable of storing data for as long as they want, for no reason at all. Yes, I said "other device". From the Washington Post article cited above:

The policies cover "any device capable of storing information in digital or analog form," including hard drives, flash drives, cellphones, 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.' "

Think about that for just a moment. They have to right to take anything of yours which could contain data, and keep it for as long as they think they need it. Furthermore, they can share it with others as they see fit. Will the data be secure? Will it be destroyed if not needed? Will your laptop (etc) be returned to you unmolested and intact, or will it have some spyware installed to record your keystrokes? (This last item plays a pivotal plot point in Communion of Dreams, so I tend to think of such things).

What to do?

Accept that the authorities will do this, and not worry about it? Don't cross the boarder? Try and hide your data? Simply don't take any such devices with you?

We're going to Patagonia in about 10 weeks. My wife has been considering taking her laptop, since she is part of the organizing team for the tour we'll be on. I told her that I don't recommend it. But it's her call. At the very least, I hope that she - and anyone else who has to do this - will take the time to consider Schneier's advice on how to do so safely. Here's a bit:

So your best defence is to clean up your laptop. A customs agent can't read what you don't have. You don't need five years' worth of email and client data. You don't need your old love letters and those photos (you know the ones I'm talking about). Delete everything you don't absolutely need. And use a secure file erasure program to do it. While you're at it, delete your browser's cookies, cache and browsing history. It's nobody's business what websites you've visited. And turn your computer off - don't just put it to sleep - before you go through customs; that deletes other things. Think of all this as the last thing to do before you stow your electronic devices for landing. Some companies now give their employees forensically clean laptops for travel, and have them download any sensitive data over a virtual private network once they've entered the country. They send any work back the same way, and delete everything again before crossing the border to go home. This is a good idea if you can do it.

If you can't, consider putting your sensitive data on a USB drive or even a camera memory card: even 16GB cards are reasonably priced these days. Encrypt it, of course, because it's easy to lose something that small. Slip it in your pocket, and it's likely to remain unnoticed even if the customs agent pokes through your laptop. If someone does discover it, you can try saying: "I don't know what's on there. My boss told me to give it to the head of the New York office." If you've chosen a strong encryption password, you won't care if he confiscates it.

There's also advice (and links) in that essay on how to partition your hard drive to include hidden material, how to encrypt your data safely, and so forth. Use according to how valuable your data is. But keep in mind that showing up at the boarder (or Customs) with such encryption evident is a sure way to attract attention and make your day more difficult. Not fun.

What I find astonishing, and extremely insightful, is this quote from that WaPo piece:

Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff wrote in an opinion piece published last month in USA Today that "the most dangerous contraband is often contained in laptop computers or other electronic devices." Searches have uncovered "violent jihadist materials" as well as images of child pornography, he wrote.

With about 400 million travelers entering the country each year, "as a practical matter, travelers only go to secondary [for a more thorough examination] when there is some level of suspicion," Chertoff wrote. "Yet legislation locking in a particular standard for searches would have a dangerous, chilling effect as officers' often split-second assessments are second-guessed."

A "chilling effect", Mr. Chertoff? Funny, that term is more commonly used and understood in how government can infringe on the civil rights of law-abiding Americans. To make the claim that the government's agents are the ones suffering such an infringement in their duties is to turn the entire notion of governmental authority coming *from* the people on its head, and says rather that those public employees are something more akin to our rulers than servants.

But I suppose that this is hardly surprising in this day and age.

Jim Downey

(Cross posted to my blog. Also see further discussion at MetaFilter, Daily Kos, and BoingBoing.)