Archive for laptop

Guess What? Canada Border Services Agency Searches Your Laptop Too

Posted in Commentary with tags , , on May 5, 2010 by itnerd

It seems that US Customs And Border Protection aren’t the only ones who search laptops. According to the BC Civil Liberties Association, Canada Border Services Agency does the same thing. Now documents in terms of the policies that Canada Border Services Agency use were requested by this group in the form of a freedom of information request, but when the eventually arrived they were heavily redacted. But here’s some of what came out of what was provided to them:

  • Canada Border Services Agency uses a piece of Windows-only software called ICWhatUC to scan for images. Ignoring the fact that this software is kind of lame, the take home message is that if you’re coming to Canada, bring a Mac or a LINUX box.
  • Canada Border Services Agency understands that most ‘Japanese Anime’ is not child pornography, and that your family photos (even with kids in the tub) aren’t child pornography either. That’s good to know.
  • Officers from the Canada Border Services Agency will look for user accounts visible on the login screen, note the operating system and any encryption. There are also suggested image and keyword searches to guide officers noted in the documents. Therefore if you use encryption or you password protect your laptop, you’re likely to get somebody’s attention at the Canadian border.

However, there were some key items missing from the BC Civil Liberties Association request:

Five key areas were not addressed adequately (or at all) in the CBSA’s response to our request:

  1. Criteria for selection of individuals for device inspection. Information was referred to, and some information provided, but the contents of these sections were heavily redacted.
  2. Policies for copying and retention of electronic information. Some information was provided, but it only referred to cases where potentially criminal conduct was detected during the CBSA’s initial search. Further information is required here.
  3. Statistics on the number and kinds of devices inspected.
  4. Demographic information on individuals whose devices have been inspected.
  5. Policies for the distribution of electronic information copied from electronic devices to other government agencies.

The documents that the BC Civil Liberties Association did get are online for you to look at, and I would recommend that you do if you are Canadian or planning to visit Canada.

The current Conservative government in Canada promised to be more open and accountable to it’s citizens. Just take a look at this YouTube video with Prime Minister Stephen Harper in it to see what I’m talking about. But it seems that they are practicing the exact opposite. Just look at this issue and another burning issue in Canada involving documents relating to how Canada handled Afghan prisoner transfers and the Conservatives unwillingness to hand them over to Parliament. This is even more troublesome when you consider that US Customs And Border Protection have made their policies public for the most part.

The core issue is this: How can we trust that Canada Border Services Agency isn’t doing racial profiling or something else “evil” if we can’t see what they’re doing? Are we supposed to just trust them?

I don’t think so.

Canada Border Services Agency needs to come clean on this sooner rather than later. Doing so would make the traveling public feel better. Until that happens, you’ve been warned about what these guys are doing.

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Another Reason To Back Up Your Notebook: Israeli Security Pump MacBook Full Of Lead

Posted in Commentary with tags , , on December 15, 2009 by itnerd

Right up front, I want to state that any comments that you leave regarding this story should be civil and thoughtful as I do NOT want this to turn into a “Bash Israel” circus. Are we clear on that? Good.

I know Israel is a place that has its challenges, and since I come from a place (England) that has had its brushes with terrorism I get the need for their security forces to be careful. But when I heard this story, I have to wonder if things were taken a bit too far. A woman goes to Israel to meet some friends, see the sights, and do everything a tourist would do. She comes across some security officers who ask her a bunch of questions. They didn’t like some of her answers and here’s what happened next in her own words:

Then they asked me to wait. Since they had asked for friends and families phone numbers I assumed they might be calling to verify my answers to questions or confirm I really had extended family in Tel Aviv.  An announcement played over the sound system, interrupting my break in the sunshine. First in Hebrew, then Arabic, then in English. It was something along the lines of, ” do not to be alarmed by gunshots because the Israeli security needs to blow up suspicious passanger luggage.”

I went inside to check on my bag. I had left it unattended, where they instructed. It was still there so I went back outside.

Moments later a man came outside and introduced himself as the manager on duty. And then, “I’m sorry but we had to blow up your laptop. “

Actually, they shot it up. Just take a look at the pictures. This seems a bit extreme to me. But I guess that given the situation that Israeli citizens live in, I guess that’s okay as it is better for security forces to assume the worst to protect citizens of the country. Although like I said, it seems a tad bit extreme to me. After all, wouldn’t a powering up of the laptop be a better option?

So, what are the take home messages:

  1. Back up your data. Here’s a couple of articles on how to do so.
  2. Always be co-operative with security people. Here’s an article that I wrote on how to deal with US Customs. This may help in other places as well.

Oh in case you’re wondering, the lady who had her laptop shot to pieces is promised compensation. I hope she gets it.

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DHS Changes Laptop Search Policy…. But Don’t Jump For Joy Just Yet

Posted in Commentary with tags , , on August 28, 2009 by itnerd

You might remember that I wrote about the fact that the US Department Of Homeland Security has the right to search your laptop when you cross the border. There’s a new development on that front. It seems that DHS is going to alter that policy. In a nutshell, here’s what the new policy is:

The long-criticized practice of searching travelers’ electronic devices will continue, but a supervisor now would need to approve holding a device for more than five days. Any copies of information taken from travelers’ machines would be destroyed within days if there were no legal reason to hold the information.

This is a step forward from what they were doing in the past. But some have said that this doesn’t go far enough:

Marcia Hofmann, a lawyer with the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a ditigal civil rights advocacy group, said in an interview the new rules are an improvement. But they don’t go far enough, she said.

She said travelers should be told if information is copied from their devices. The new directive states that federal agents must tell travelers if they are looking at their property. But if officials copy the hard drive during this search, the traveler will not know.

“I don’t think that’s the way to go,” Hofmann said.

I would agree. I don’t have a problem with DHS trying to catch terrorists and other “evil doers” to borrow a George W. Bush phrase, but it has to be done in a manner that preserves the rights of the traveling public. What DHS is doing now is a step forward, but more needs to be done. Also, how do I truly know the data that they copy has been destroyed? Do I have to just “trust them” that this isn’t being collected somehow?

Perhaps, if we could have some more clarity on this we’d all feel better. In the meantime, you still might want to do what I suggested in the original post that I wrote.

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US Customs To Earth: All Your Laptops Belong To Us

Posted in Commentary with tags , , on August 2, 2008 by itnerd

You’ll recall that US Customs And Border Protection started searching laptops without a warrant, and that congress was looking into the matter and was none to pleased about the fact that there were no documented policies that were on file. That changed yesterday. A pair of DHS policies have appeared that 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.” (See policy No. 1 and No. 2. Warning:PDF)

So, this means that a visitor to the US or a US citizen is subject to these new policies. Wonderful.

As I mentioned earlier, congress was looking into the matter. It would be nice if they put an end to this stupidity

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Laptop Searches Tick Off Congress…. But Will Anything Be Done About It?

Posted in Commentary with tags , , on June 26, 2008 by itnerd

I posted recently about the fact that US Customs And Border Protection can search your laptop and other gizmos without any reason. This attracted the attention of Congress who decided to hold hearings on the issue. As usual at these sorts of things, a number of groups were repersented. But the Department Of Homeland Security wasn’t one of them. They chose to send a written statement instead (which according to Sen. Russ Fiengold provided “little meaningful detail on the agency’s policies.”). That’s curious if you ask me since you’d think they’d be anxious to get in front of these politicians and describe how this policy helps protect the USA from terrorists, child pornographers, and other “evil-doers.”

The real question is if Fiengold and his buddies plan doing anything to stop this from happening. Common sense says that they should. But sometimes, politics isn’t about common sense.

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Your Laptop Can Be Searched Or Seized By US Customs.. Here’s How To Avoid That…

Posted in Tips with tags , , on May 22, 2008 by itnerd

Taking your laptop on a trip has gotten a bit harder if you’re planning to fly through the United States. A recent court decision (warning PDF) involving a man who was searched by US Customs And Border Protection and was found to have child porn on a laptop. As a result, every time you cross the border customs officials have the right to look at anything in your possession, including the content on your laptop, handheld device, cell phone, USB memory stick and digital cameras. They have the right to both view that information and to download or mirror it if they think it’s necessary. Keep in mind that Border agents do not need any evidence or suspicion of illegal activity to examine a laptop or other electronic device. They can basically do whatever they feel like.

So, what do you do? Here’s some tips in terms of dealing with this issue:

  • Back up the contents of your computer before you leave home. If you need some advice on doing that, click here.
  • Don’t carry anything on these devices that could potentially embarrass you or that you don’t want others to see. Pictures, stories, even bookmarks. These days, it doesn’t matter.
  • Keep your personal banking information, photos, correspondence, health and password information at home.
  • If the device is a company-owned computer, don’t carry proprietary business information or personnel records on it.
  • Tape your business card to the bottom of the laptop.
  • Before you approach customs, turn on your laptop, check the battery power reading to be sure that it’s at least half charged. Then instead of turning it off, put it in “suspend” mode (Windows) or “sleep” mode (Mac). Close your laptop, and head to customs. By doing that, you can have them look at it and be on your way quicker.
  • Since US Customs And Border Protection has the right to mirror your data and seize your computer, you should cooperate with customs officials if that happens to you. Ask for a receipt and a badge number if your computer is seized or the data was copied. Try and get whatever information you can on the reason why this happened. Be prepared to not get your computer back for a long time, if ever. As for your data, who knows what they’ll do with that.
  • Be polite at all times when dealing with US Customs And Border Protection.
  • You could just leave your laptop at home entirely. Remote access products such as the MobiKEY can allow you to get access to what you need without carrying your laptop. I wrote about this device previously and use it myself. There’s no data on the device, so there’s nothing for US Customs And Border Protection to search.

The good news is that there is a lawsuit that has been filed by the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and the Asian Law Caucus to get the Department Of Homeland Security to disclose its policies on questioning travelers on First Amendment-protected activities, photocopying individuals’ personal papers, and searching laptop computers and other electronic devices. So one can hope that this can become a non-issue shortly. Until then, I suggest that you watch your back.

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