Laptops should have Right to Privacy

The New York Times catches up on a story we noted several weeks ago. We would never suspect any governmental agency to use political motivation as a reason to confiscate a traveler's laptop, like say the carry-on bag of an ACLU member, or an anti-war activist, or an atheist. Never, never, in a thousand milliseconds.

On the Road: At U.S. Borders, Laptops Have No Right to Privacy

Employers have a new worry — that business travelers’ laptops will be seized at United States customs and immigration checkpoints.

Although much of the evidence for the confiscations remains anecdotal, it’s a hot topic this week among more than 1,000 corporate travel managers and travel industry officials meeting in Barcelona at a conference of the Association of Corporate Travel Executives.

Last week, an informal survey by the association, which has about 2,500 members worldwide, indicated that almost 90 percent of its members were not aware that customs officials have the authority to scrutinize the contents of travelers’ laptops and even confiscate laptops for a period of time, without giving a reason.

“One member who responded to our survey said she has been waiting for a year to get her laptop and its contents back,” said Susan Gurley, the group’s executive director. “She said it was randomly seized. And since she hasn’t been arrested, I assume she was just a regular business traveler, not a criminal.”

“We need to be able to better inform our business travelers what the processes are if their laptops and data are seized — what happens to it, how do you get it back,” Ms. Gurley said.
...
She added: “The issue is what happens to the proprietary business information that might be on a laptop. Is information copied? Is it returned? We understand that the U.S. government needs to protect its borders. But we want to have transparent information so business travelers know what to do. Should they leave business proprietary information at home?”

Besides the possibility for misuse of proprietary information, travel executives are also concerned that a seized computer, and the information it holds, is unavailable to its owner for a time. One remedy some companies are considering is telling travelers coming back into the country with sensitive information to encrypt it and e-mail it to themselves, which at least protects access to the data, if not its privacy.

Like our blog-buddy chicago dyke said: have two machines, with one very, very empty. Alternatively, have two hard disks, and switch em out before crossing the border. Sort of a pain, but better than losing your laptop for a year. And don't put your Swiss bank account numbers on your laptop at all.

Tags: civil_liberties, /corporate_privacy