DHS: Terrorism? We Thought You Said “War on Tourism”
by John Paczkowski
Posted on August 2, 2008 at 10:55 AM PT
Overseas travel to the United States has plummeted in the past five years, and it may well plummet further thanks to The Department of Homeland Security’s recently revealed border policy on laptops, iPods and other electronics carried into the country by travelers. The policy (PDF) is five pages long, but essentially boils down to this: DHS agents can routinely seize travelers’ electronic gear and keep it for as long as they see fit. And they can search its contents and copy and share them with other agencies. And they can do this “absent individualized suspicion.”
The policy–which covers “any device capable of storing information in digital or analog form” as well as “written materials commonly referred to as ‘pocket trash’ or ‘pocket litter’”–applies to anyone entering this country, including U.S. citizens.
Anyone who wants to, that is.
If only we could keep our right to privacy safely up in “the cloud: along with our data …
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Comments
Why would any tourist want to visit a military dictatorship like the US? I’m not even subject to this type of arbitrary theft of my private belongings when I visit bad old China.
Just one more sign of the impending collapse of the USA.
Posted by Stewart Midwinter at August 1st, 2008 at 10:50 pmI live in Europe and for 25 years I used to frequently visit the US on business trips- and I lived there for 5 years running International marketing for a computer Co. I retired, and my visits stopped until entering the US for my sons graduation from MIT in June. What a change! The border police the worst I have ever seen anywhere- and I have visited more than 60 countries. My wife and I were treated as though we were convicted criminals- and for no apparent reason. I used to joke before this last visit “that a country’s desirability to visit was in inverse proportion to the welcome at border controls”. I know after visiting many dictatorships both extreme left and extreme right, and a variety of banana republics. The worst ever was my last US visit- which will probably be my last! Writing as a Brit.the US is not unique in being exposed to terrorism: it is time that your “Homeland Security” stopped terrorising visitors!
Posted by david acheson at August 3rd, 2008 at 8:05 amI never fly even within the US unless it is unavoidable. Yes, I put a lot of miles on my vehicle but I avoid the abusive treatment in the airports. Flying was once a lot of fun, it is too bad it has become such a bad experience.
Posted by Ed Sahagian-Allsopp at August 3rd, 2008 at 11:35 am