Interesting People mailing list archives
more on search experience on "border"
From: David Farber <dave () farber net>
Date: Mon, 31 Jul 2006 12:25:02 -0400
Begin forwarded message: From: Lauren Weinstein <lauren () vortex com> Date: July 31, 2006 12:21:00 PM EDT To: travis () redswoosh net Cc: dave () farber net, lauren () vortex com Subject: Re: [IP] search experience on "border"
From: Travis Kalanick <travis () redswoosh net>
...
While operating my laptop he said that we was tasked with preventing illegal pornographic material from entering the United States
...
He returned my laptop after this warrantless search saying I was free
Dave, And to what end -- other than going through the motions -- is such a search? Given a quick check, the border agent would be unlikely to find a cache of porn photos that was compressed and archived in a single encrypted file named C:\WINDOWS\$NtUninstallKB911567 or some other obscure name -- not a single JPG porn file to be found in a file scan. Perhaps what's really going on in such border cases is some sort of "amateur test" -- since any pro who wanted to bring porn (or any other data) into the U.S. on a laptop would never leave the data in an easily discovered form. But then again, why bother using the laptop? How about putting an innocuous looking file on that cute keychain memory dongle? Or on an iPod? Porn could be easily rigged to look like an mp3 file, that could even play properly. Or why not use some spare cell phone memory area? Or how about that 2 Gig memory stick in the camera, or a miniSD memory card inserted into an electric razor or the binding of a book? To quote the wonderful episode "OBIT" from the original '60s television series "The Outer Limits": "The machines are everywhere!" Anyone with half a brain who wants to bring data into the U.S. can do so without meaningful detection, short of a full body cavity strip search and prolonged forensic analysis -- and even then the true nature of any data might well be undiscovered. All of the rest is for show, and perhaps to cull the low hanging fruit. --Lauren-- Lauren Weinstein lauren () vortex com or lauren () pfir org Tel: +1 (818) 225-2800 http://www.pfir.org/lauren Co-Founder, PFIR - People For Internet Responsibility - http://www.pfir.org Co-Founder, IOIC - International Open Internet Coalition - http://www.ioic.net Moderator, PRIVACY Forum - http://www.vortex.com Member, ACM Committee on Computers and Public Policy Lauren's Blog: http://lauren.vortex.com DayThink: http://daythink.vortex.com ------------------------------------- You are subscribed as lists-ip () insecure org To manage your subscription, go to http://v2.listbox.com/member/?listname=ip Archives at: http://www.interesting-people.org/archives/interesting-people/
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- more on search experience on "border" David Farber (Jul 31)