Level Extreme platform
Subscription
Corporate profile
Products & Services
Support
Legal
Français
Airports searching laptops - ok or not?
Message
 
To
07/01/2008 13:37:08
General information
Forum:
Travel
Category:
Airport
Miscellaneous
Thread ID:
01279992
Message ID:
01279994
Views:
69
Not to worry (much). The people who will inspect your computer cannot understand English. However, they may reformat your hard drive! :)

>http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/07/us/07bar.html?ei=5090&en=d0caa6c9bacf76ed&ex=1357362000&adxnnl=1&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss&adxnnlx=1199714806-NZ2agd4Kikkv8hShxGsvKg&pagewanted=print
>
>Is it no different than searching a suitcase as the government states or is Judge Dean D. Pregerson of Federal District Court in Los Angeles accurate: “Electronic storage devices function as an extension of our own memory,” Judge Pregerson wrote, in explaining why the government should not be allowed to inspect them without cause. “They are capable of storing our thoughts, ranging from the most whimsical to the most profound.”
>
>Computer hard drives can include, Judge Pregerson continued, diaries, letters, medical information, financial records, trade secrets, attorney-client materials and — the clincher, of course — information about reporters’ “confidential sources and story leads.”
>
>But Judge Pregerson’s decision seems to be headed for reversal. The three judges who heard the arguments in October in the appeal of his decision seemed persuaded that a computer is just a container and deserves no special protection from searches at the border. The same information in hard-copy form, their questions suggested, would doubtless be subject to search.
>
>The United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, in Richmond, Va., took that position in a 2005 decision
Previous
Reply
Map
View

Click here to load this message in the networking platform