I will never take my laptop again when I travel to the US.

They want to make sure no one that comes here is up to no good. If you are OK, it shouldn't bother you. That's my opinion. You may not have noticed, but 3,000 folks here were mordered just a few years back and we have to be careful now. If you have company data that you do not want to be seen, then send a portable hard drive through in the mail overnight to your destination and do not carry it on your hard drive. Otherwise..I agree and you should not bring your laptop.

Has this actually happened to you? I've been through US customs more times than I care to remember, the last with a full-on laptop and a PDA which would be indistinguishable from a laptop. Never have I been so much as asked to turn them on. If courts have upheld the decision, there'll be very clear guidelines as to where and how long the information from such a situation would be held. They're 'unclear' because you haven't looked ;) And frankly, they can look on mine all they want. Beyond being impressed with my Nethack highscore table, there's not a damned thing on there they'd find remotely interesting. Why would you want to refuse?

I agree with you, that would be something like illegal search and seizure. If you have done something that would make you suspicious, maybe it would be okay, but the regular traveller should not have to put up with that.

I never heard of this. I do not have a laptop, but when I do, I will just have my novel on it, my fan fiction, and anything to do with my writing, and I will be checking myLot, and my email, but that is about all. Would they not ask for your permission? And since I might need to get some information straight for my novel since it is years ago, I might need the help of one of the customs officers anyway.

Maybe they are afraid that someone will blow up a plane with one that was wired funny. I don't think we can be too safe when flying but how far is too far??

Uuuhhh. That makes travelling very unenjoyable. Nowadays lap-top is part of our life. For some, lap-top is their souce of income. Some carry lap-top 'cos while travelling they can do online business. So if the US customs over reacted on the matter. Can our US friends in MyLotter do something about this?

I didn't know that they could do that. It isn't right. They should not be able to do that unless they have a good reason. I call that illegal search and seizure, which is against the Constitution.

We cannot blame them. With the high tech used by terrorist, the government have to be very strict to deter terrorism. They have to start from the entry point of that country to make it safe for everyone. People like us who are good natured people do not understand the risk that the terrorist used in their crazy business. Whatever it is we got to be patient with whatever precautions they take to check on passengers. We should be thankful that they are there to monitor the security of the country.

wow that is really taking it too far. how can they just download the whole hard drive? who will ensure confidentiality of the information contained therein? thankfully i have no intention to go there any time soon. i use my laptop for online shopping and internet banking. who knows what will happen to all my userids and passwords.

I have taken my laptop with me before and the only hassel has been having to take it out of the case in security and then put it back (along with shoes) at the end of the line when you get through. But I had no idea they could download your data. There is nothing very sensitive on mine, but it still belongs right where it is as far as I'm concerned. I worry about the xray machine too, but I guess that's safe enough. I have stopped taking mine just because of the hassel I mentioned above, it's not worth it.

I think that it is going too far. I think that we have accepted the loss of many of our civil liberties. For the most part, I think it's more due to fear than actual homeland security.

This terrorists are scaring the US customs to the hilt and driving them to the point of getting crazy! Well, can't do anything if that is their policy. You're right just don't bring your laptop to avoid all those hassles and invasion of privacy. Better yet don't go to USA, there are better places out there anyway!

In a way, it's sad how paranoid the US customs have gotten over the past few years. It's not like the world was any more or less safe than it ever has been; it's just the aftereffects of something actually happening. This does remind me, though; I'll be taking my laptop overseas with me this fall, and I usually have my account password protected just because I don't like people rifling through my fanfiction/stories. I guess I should take the password protection down for the duration of the flight. I don't need my laptop ruined over something stupid.

Wow! I never heard this before. Where did you get this info? I travel back and forth to and from USA and with my laptop. Never happened to me.

I think I have heard about something like this before, and it makes me mad! I'm not sure if it applies to even US citizens, but the way things are going, that wouldn't surprise me! Anyway, the thing that bothers me is, my laptop is mine, and only mine! I trip out if my friends mess around with it too much, so if these people wanted to copt my hard drive, I would leave that place and just not travel! LOL I just think that this is an invasion of privacy and you are right, most likely terrorists are not going to send e-mails and stuff! Most likely they wouldn't even put them on computer, I'm sure most of their plans are either on paper or in their heads, I mean.. otherwise they could be found easier or something.

This is new to me. The last time I have traveled to US with laptop is they are checking whether it is really a laptop, I open the case, pull out my laptop and put it on the table, I thought it was done, but the officer asked me to turn on my laptop, I told to them that I can't because the battery pack is not working, I get the cord and look for an outlet, but then he said ok, that's fine. But based on your information, I think it is a tedious process for them just to search for nothing.