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Business travellers flying to the US should continue to expect to have their laptop computers seized and searched even if they are not suspected of criminal activity. Such is the implied message from US border officials who have backed what they said is their 200-year-old duty to keep “dangerous people and things” from entering the country. Jason Ahern, of Customs and Border Protection, was forced onto the defensive when civil liberties groups complained that a rising number of ‘connected’ travellers were being targeted. Acting on reports that passengers were being made to give up their laptops, flash drives, iPods, pagers and phones, America’s Civil Liberties Union said it was “unconstitutional.” “It's a seizure without developing probable cause that a crime has been or is being committed,” Tim Sparapani, the ACLU’s senior legislative counsel told AFP. The union reportedly accused Customs and Border Protection, a division of the Department of Homeland Security, of wanting to return the US border to a “constitution-free zone.” But Ahern argued that the security measures at the border were not new, rather they were rooted in the federal government’s power dating back 200 years to protect the US border. “In the 21st century, terrorists and criminals increasingly use laptops and other electronic media to transport illicit materials that were traditionally concealed in bags, containers, notebooks and paper documents,” he said. “Making full use of our search authorities with respect to items like notebooks and backpacks, while failing to do so with respect to laptops and other devices, would ensure that terrorists and criminals receive less scrutiny at our borders just as their use of technology is becoming more sophisticated.” The security measures reportedly require federal agents to take steps to protect business information, such as intellectual property, and legally privileged material. They state that any copies of the data must be destroyed when a review is completed and no probable cause exits to keep the information But these stipulations don’t change the appearance that the policy, new or not, is comparable to using a hammer to crack a walnut, hinted Noam Biale, of ACLU’s Technology & Liberty Program. “An all-invasive approach that treats everyone like a suspect is not a smart trade-off for the miniscule chance that we’ll catch a break like that [identifying a criminal]. “The costs of such a policy are high: it gives terrorists a strong ideological advantage by portraying our country as oppressive and demagogic, rather than free and open”, he wrote. [And]… [it] diminishes our capability to do business with the rest of the world, whether it’s American businesses sending employees to other countries, or foreign investors bringing their Euros, yen and shekels here.” But Ahern countered: "One of the lessons 9/11 taught us was that we must adapt to 21st century risks and anticipate rather than react to new threats. Our CBP officers are on the front lines every day ensuring that these lessons are heeded. We trust that travelers understand the need for these sensible security measures." Aug 7, 2008 Email this article Printer friendly page Previous Page
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