DHS Can Now Seize Your Laptop Indefinitely

Be aware if you're crossing the border...A pair of DHS policies (1 and 2 [pdf warning]) from last month 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."
The new DHS policies say that customs agents can, "absent individualized suspicion," seize electronic gear: "Documents and electronic media, or copies thereof, may be detained for further review, either on-site at the place of detention or at an off-site location, including a location associated with a demand for assistance from an outside agency or entity."
An electronic device is defined as "any device capable of storing information in digital or analog form" including hard drives, compact discs, DVDs, flash drives, portable music players, cell phones, pagers, beepers, and videotapes.
This follows the recent news that Canadian border officials will begin inspecting your digital devices for copyrighted media if ACTA is enacted. How a customs officer is supposed to tell if a file is pirated vs. legitimately downloaded is not known. Online accounts of border agents/TSA not knowing what PSPs and MacBook Airs are and looking for illegal porn in the My Pictures folder on Windows do not bode well for any of these plans.

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