Your personal data just got permanently cached at the US border

Found on The Register on Thursday, 01 May 2008
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Now that US customs agents have unfettered access to laptops and other electronic devices at borders, a coalition of travel groups, civil liberties advocates and technologists is calling on Congress to rein in the Department of Homeland Security's search and seizure practices.

The EFF agrees that laptops, cell phones, digital cameras and other gizmos should be cleaned of any sensitive information. Then, after passing through customs, travelers can download the data they need, work on it, transmit it back and then digitally destroy the files before returning.

The post also urges the use of strong encryption to scramble sensitive data, although it warns this approach is by no means perfect. For one thing, CBP agents are free to deny entry to travelers who refuse to divulge their passwords. They may also be able to seize the laptop.

This is just ridiculous. If I want to bring information into the US that's useful for terrorists (and I assume they use this excuse for all that), then I'll just upload an encrypted archive to some filehost and send over the URL. There's no way that I'd reveal any password to some random customs guy who's on a powertrip and wants to sniff through everything. I'll just stay away from the US and the orwellian state.