What would you do if your laptop or camera were seized without a probable cause? The article Seizing Laptops and Cameras Without Cause, tells of many occasions in which persons coming back home from trip have become part of “random” search and seize inspections. It is not clear how inspectors pick whom they will be inspecting but the majority of searches done are of “travelers who were nearly all of Muslim, Middle Eastern, or South Asian descent.”
“Citing the lawsuits, customs officials decline to say how many computers, storage drives, cellphones, and BlackBerry's they have confiscated or what happens to them afterward.” When laptops and cameras were taken they typically were not given back for months. “Larry Cunningham, an assistant district attorney from New York, told the hearing: ‘I am aware of no authority that would permit the government, without probable cause to believe it contains contraband, to keep a person's laptop or to copy the contents of its files.’” The governments response to the custom officials taking persons personal electronics was that it was a way of keeping everyone safer. “Customs insists that terrorism and child pornography are sufficient justification for electronics searches. And even civil libertarians agree it makes sense for customs to search luggage, which could pose immediate dangers to aircraft and passengers.”
In response to the government doing such things, businesses have changed “their policies about traveling with corporate information. Many now require employees to access data remotely to avoid confiscations.”
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