As reported by the New York Times yesterday, I wonder if I will get all of my usual and very dear devices with me all the way into Orlando this time? I have gotten used to almost undress for the US security screenings but will I even be able to “survive” without my laptop for a week?
Just finding it VERY HARD to convince myself WHY I should attend my 10th Lotusphere in the US this time…
Subject: Lotusphere without my laptop?
I can read it without having an account… Maybe cause I’m reading it from outside the US???
Digest from slashdot.com:
“According to an article in the New York Times, the Association of Corporate Travel Executives is asking the U.S. government for more detailed guidelines on when and why a laptop gets confiscated at the U.S. border, which, anecdotally, is happening more often. The story includes a report from a business traveler who had her laptop confiscated over a year ago and has yet to have it returned.”
A knowledgeable lawyer said: “[Border guards] don’t need probable cause to perform… searches under the current law. They can do it without suspicion or without really revealing their motivations.” And an ACTE exective is quoted, “Potentially, this is going to have a real effect on how international business is conducted.”
Subject: RE: Lotusphere without my laptop?
Slashdot, huh?
You should always take any info from slashdot.com with a grain of salt and double-check. Which you did by asking in this forum.
Had you not, I’d fear for your sanity.
Subject: RE: Lotusphere without my laptop?
“Potentially, this is going to have a real effect on how international business is conducted.” uhhh, sure it will. So will raising air fares, or the sudden appearance of a wormhole. Note the “anecdotally” reference. I know someone who knew someone who…etc etc.
I travel relatively frequently and while it can be a bit of a pain in the a**, I haven’t had any significant troubles getting my laptop through security. I would wager there’s a better chance of someone stealing it in the airport than there is of security “confiscating” it for any period of time.
Subject: Why?
OK, I’m a lazy s.o.b. who refuses to sign up for news articles…could you post the general overview of what the Times said?
I’m travelling out west in a couple of days and just checked both the TSA and Southwest sites - no mention of any restrictions on electronic devices. No mention of exploding batteries either so it looks like pretty typical travel for me.
Doug
Subject: RE: Why?
The gist is that TSA (the people who check your baggage at the airports here in the U.S. of A.) can examine your laptop’s harddrive, or even confiscate your laptop for complete checking for any extended period of time, meaning that a) you could be without a laptop you need, and b) you have yet another reason to make sure confidential information is encrypted, as if there aren’t enough reasons, and c) you better have a backup of anything important in case you don’t get the laptop back for a while.
Now, it is completely unclear whether there have really been many cases of this happening or whether somebody just realized that the rules allowed this. I don’t see the TSA as having a lot of time for this, but if your name happens to be similar to Osama Bin Laden’s neice’s friend’s mailman, the government might confiscate your laptop to show it is doing something in the war on terror.
Subject: And who’s shorts are in a twist today???
Signed your truly,
Doug (no longer in a p155y mood) Finner and no, I am no relation to the neice’s friend’s mailman, really, I am not (but maybe her gardener…oh nooooooooo Gitmo here I come…)
Subject: *Guilty as charged (oops, probably the wrong thing to say publicly)
Subject: No, not the TSA
The article is about US Customs. It applies to laptops that are coming into the US, which can be confiscated for any reason. But that’s not new. It’s always been true, and it has always been true of anything that anyone tries to bring into the country. This is not a post-9/11 thing, and with respect to laptops actual cases of confiscation probably have more to do with anti-pornography enforcement (or suspicions thereof) than anything else. And the US is hardly unique in this regard. Every country has the right under international law, and most countries do occasionally exercise the right, to inspect, quarantine or confiscate things that are coming in.
Which isn’t to say that under current US law the TSA might not claim the same powers, and who knows whether the US courts would stand up against it or not. But that’s not what the article is about.
Subject: *Sorry, you are correct.
Subject: Lotusphere without my laptop?
I can’t read the article because I’m not signed up at NYT, but would Nomad be an option? It should be easier to get a USB stick through. See http://www.bruceelgort.com/blogs/be.nsf/plinks/BELT-6U8PGP and Chris Whisonant: Lotus Notes 7.0.2 - NOMAD Review (among other places) for how-to instructions.
Just a thought…
Don
Subject: Lotusphere without my laptop?
Did you get your laptop in last time? Nothing has changed. The article says this is a “new worry”, but the worry is only new to people who have never thought about it before.
US Customs had the same rights the last time you came to Lotusphere, and the time before that, and the time before that, and the time before that, too. Customs in every other country you’ve been to had that right, too. Customs in every country I’ve ever visited with a laptop, with a tape recorder, with a camera, a book, prescription medication, or anything else has always had the right to seize whatever I am carrying. It’s pretty rare, but every international traveler has to deal with the fact that sovereign nations have the right to confiscate things that people try to bring across their borders, and they don’t have to say why they did it.
If you’re worried, bring a USB stick instead of a laptop, and load it up with Nomad. Even if the machines in the Lotusphere kiosks have the USBs disabled, I’m sure there will be plenty of people with laptops who will be willing to let you borrow for a while. But if you weren’t worried the last time you came into the US, there’s really no reason to be worried any more this time.