Your Laptop Can Be Taken Away Upon Entering the U.S.
Published in El Financiero
(Costa Rica) on August 1st, 20081
by Alejandro Fernandez Sanabria (link to
original)
As of July 16th, upon entering the United States a federal agent can, without there being a suspicious situation, take your portable computer and carry it to an office for an undefined period.
There the agent is authorized to review the contents on the hard drive, including making copies of it to send to private agencies in order to obtain a translation.
According to The Washington Post, these are the new and rigorous immigration policies established by the Department of Homeland Security of the United States.
Keep in mind that they apply both to foreigners and to United States citizens.
The measures submit to review any device where one can store information in digital or analog form which include Mayan keys, cellular phones, video and photographic cameras, and iPods.
It also includes any document with computer hardware, such as books, pamphlets, magazines etc.
These measures are generating frustration among civil rights organizations and business travelers in this country, because they consider them abusive and illegal primarily because they allow access to private data even if a citizen is not suspected of breaking the law.
There the agent is authorized to review the contents on the hard drive, including making copies of it to send to private agencies in order to obtain a translation.
According to The Washington Post, these are the new and rigorous immigration policies established by the Department of Homeland Security of the United States.
Keep in mind that they apply both to foreigners and to United States citizens.
The measures submit to review any device where one can store information in digital or analog form which include Mayan keys, cellular phones, video and photographic cameras, and iPods.
It also includes any document with computer hardware, such as books, pamphlets, magazines etc.
These measures are generating frustration among civil rights organizations and business travelers in this country, because they consider them abusive and illegal primarily because they allow access to private data even if a citizen is not suspected of breaking the law.
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