DHS Clarifies Laptop Border Searches

The new rules leave open the possibility that travelers may face penalties for refusing to provide passwords or encryption keys.

Really ? Well I guess that we all should just go along with this !
The Government says this is how it is ! And they , of course , believe they have the Right to do it !
Government Intrusion is way out of control , just read kyros's post At Report on Arrakis about the Obamasiah wanting control over the internet !
Go Ahead ,your more than welcome to Check my Laptop ! If you can extract it from your ASS First!

Info Week Government
The Department of Homeland Security on Thursday released new directives covering border searches of electronic devices and media, but the government's rules leave open the question of whether individuals can be compelled to provide passwords and encryption keys.

DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano in a statement characterized the rules as an attempt to balance the investigatory requirements for fighting crime and terrorism with privacy and civil liberties.

In February, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to reconsider an appeals court ruling that laptops are like suitcases and can be searched at borders without reasonable suspicion.

Laptop searches remain an unusual event for travelers entering the country. More than 221 million travelers passed through U.S. ports of entry between Oct. 1, 2008, and Aug. 11, 2009, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP). These entries resulted in about 1,000 laptop searches, only 46 of which were in-depth.

Nevertheless, the DHS policy of treating laptops and electronic devices as the equivalent of suitcases and backpacks in terms of border searches has alarmed business travel and privacy groups.

About two weeks ago, Nate Cardozo, open government legal fellow at the EFF, asked CPB through its online comment system, "If a CBP agent requests my password or encryption key and I refuse to provide it, will I be denied entry, will my laptop be seized, neither or both?"

Good Question!

The response, from a CPB employee identified as Frederick, was: "There is no concrete answer that can be given to your question since it is hypothetical. The outcomes you listed are possible, although a US citizen would not normally be denied entry. The actions that result from a denial to cooperate with a legal search are dependent on the applicable laws as well the discretion of the officers conducting the inspection."

Typical Bad answer full of Bullshit , from a government Agency !

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