Bill Would Limit Customs's Power to Seize and Search Laptops

Homeland Security Secrecy

It appears that Customs has sipped the same Kool-Aid that this Administration has been sucking down for more than 7 years now. Why quietly change procedures that have been in place since 1986 without seeking public comment? Are we supposed to believe that 'terrorists' will be caught off guard? Gimme a break.

Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff wrote in defense of the program that it has netted child pornography and terrorist propaganda. Since when are we regulating propaganda (read 'otherwise protected political speech'). I'm sure that we would all sleep better if all computers were searched for child porn each time we logged on to the internet - that would certainly catch child pornographers, which according to Chertoff would prove that searching our computers was well worth the loss of privacy.

This is more of our current (thankfully outgoing) Administration’s just ‘trust us’ mentality. After all, "If you don't have anything to hide, what's the problem?”

Of course, the problem is that history (our own included) has repeatedly demonstrated that rights which are not zealously guarded, or which are meekly surrendered, cease to be rights before you know it. Rights surrendered during purported emergencies, are only slowly, if ever, regained.

Unfortunately, the Supremes have thus far ruled that you surrender almost all of your constitutional rights during the process of re-entering your own country (and indeed even if you happen to internally pass any where near our borders). But privacy in our personal thoughts and musings are nonetheless rights (even if not constitutionally guaranteed in this instance). Is it really wise to entitle our border guards to read and copy love letters to or from your wife without any guiding standards? I would certainly hate to have my rights “chill” the government from acting however it may desire - oh, weight a minute, isn’t that what rights are meant to do. It never fails tosadden me to read of U.S. Government officials spouting such nonsense

As Benjamin Franklin stated "They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."

Seize and Search Laptops

This is just harasment. With PGP we have military encription that can be sent by interne and how dificult is it to hide an encripted flash drive. As normal the goverment is ten years out of date.

Bill Would Limit Customs's Power to Seize and Search Laptops

Does that provide Al -Qaeda (Thanks to Democrats) a method of smuggling a suitcase device(DB) into the country?

How ignorant can a person be? A suitcase device wouldn't boot up to microsoft windows---Sheeesh. If any person can't tell the difference between a working laptop and a suitcase bomb, they don't need to be around normal people.

Searching laptops of United States Citizens

So if you borrow a company laptop for a trip overseas you may go to jail when you return. Not knowing that some other dumb ass from your company was viewing porn on that laptop before you got it. How brain dead can our goverment be? What about your teenage kids sneeking on your laptop? Laptops can be compromised very easily. A great way to frame someone don't you think? I agree with this new law. Esp for US. Citizens who travel abroad on Business trips. One thing I don't agree with on this new bill. Liberal Senator Russ Feingold wishes to protect the rights of all Muslims in this bill. I feel, however, that we should be able to search all Muslims that come into America. On 9/11 it was all 100% Muslims who attacked us. They are the real threat, and not your IBM excutive or Grandma visiting Isreal. They call America the Great Satan! We cannot let our guard down on this religion for a minute. But our Homeland Security is more hungry to look into our laptops then it is to search the real threats coming into our land. What good are they? They can't even build us a decent fence along the Mexican border. One other thing. If we can search and take anyone's laptop for no reason. Then why can't the UK? Why can't Isreal, or any other nation? What will Americans do if they can't even go to another nation for fear of having thier laptop taken in revenge....but we would deserve it, and if we don't change our laws then soon other nations will say, "Hey...any American who comes to our land will have his laptop taken" Funny that only the two most liberal Senators would sponsor this bill. Why can't Blue Dog Democrats, and Republican Senators also care about our personal laptops and privacy? I hope they will, and I hope they do it quickly!

Whose side are the Democrats on ?

Does that provide Al -Qaeda (Thanks to Democrats) a method of smuggling a suitcase device(DB) into the country?Why is the U.S. Customs Dept.being neutered in the face of threats from a persistant & resourceful foe?I realised in the 70s',as a teen that one day we might be faced with the dilemna of liberty in conflict w/ security.The problem is that our enemies are using The Constitution against us .Bottom line -it's gonna take compromise by all & determination to weathering the storms that will come... intact.

There's an adage for this practice:

Those who throw away freedom for security deserve neither.

If I were a businessman coming to the US for a meeting, I would delete any proprietary or confidential information on my laptop. I'm not sure how one could securely get that data into the country. Maybe through a secure internet connection. I wonder if China is this bad.