Quote:
Originally Posted by Midtowner
For it to be "confiscation," the taking has to be permanent or for a substantial period of time. In this case, they are duplicating your property and returning it to you. Since you have not been deprived of its use, what's the harm done?
Sovereigns have a vested interest in knowing everything -- including data which passes over their borders. You have almost no expectation of privacy at the border.
Administrative searches are allowable under the Constitution. If they're allowed to almost completely disassemble your car at the border without probable cause, they can do this.
Constitutionally, you really don't have much of a leg to stand on.
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Mid,
I think you missed it. That's really the point of the whole story. This is
not about just a quick duplication or inspection and you're on your way. They are claiming the right to take your laptop and keep it from you as long as they want --
no reason necessary. Read the original post.....
Homeland Security: We can seize laptops for an indefinite period
Declan McCullagh
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has concocted a remarkable new policy: It reserves the right to seize for an indefinite period of time laptops taken across the border. A pair of DHS policies from last month say that customs agents can routinely--as a matter of course--
seize, make copies of, and "analyze the information transported by any individual attempting to enter, re-enter, depart, pass through, or reside in the United States."
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As a libertarian, I would think you would be outraged. I have always respected libertarians, of all stripes, for their commitment to personal privacy as really, privacy=freedom.