U.S. agents can seize travelers' laptops

Personally, I don't care how it's done. Nice or nasty, refuse to comply, refuse to comply, refuse to comply.

It's been said that the way to fight the system is in 3 parts that MUST be done in order (Badnarik read this list in relation to taxes, but I forget who the reference was... it's wise nevertheless).

1) Protect your property

2) Get educated

3) Take action

The government does not play fair and they do not play nice. I feel no need to do what they are unwilling to do, so I don't play nice either.

Until these laws are reversed, if ever, there is one solution.

The answer is to employ LEGAL counter-measures.

Smart business can avoid the cost, hassle and insulting nature of these measures by employing advanced, secure, broadband video conferencing and the use of corporate Podcasts for information sharing.

I strongly recommend 1024X military grade encryption.

Employees who must travel for the purpose of Keynote or PowerPoint presentations can upload strong encrypted data needed to a secure server and then download it once they arrive at their destination.

Cell phone and PDA contact lists can also be uploaded
and downloaded in this manner.

Corporate owned laptops should have their hard drives replaced or be hard overwritten to default settings.

IT procurement specialists may want to consider outfitting critical employees with laptops that allow for easy hard drive replacement.

A clean machine is the best way to avoid intrusion.

Keeping in mind that DHS may install spyware on any
seized device, it would be a good idea to overwrite or
replace the hard drive of any device that has been returned.
By no means should you connect to the web before this has been done.

As always, DHS may build a 10 foot wall, but the public will simply build an 11 foot ladder.

Obviously any computer showing target applications such as LimeWire or other P2P applications should be cleared of those applications.
If you are foolish enough to travel with illegal files, then you are setting yourself up for trouble.

These counter-measures may seem extreme, but no more extreme than what is needed to stand up to this
blatant abuse of power.

Law abiding citizens need to send a clear message
that this abuse of power simply will not be tolerated.

And they should. I work for a HUGE healthcare HMO. Our senior network security engineer just spent 3 weeks deep in China. Ya know what he did? He took a complete stripped laptop with him that had no company, PHI, HIPAA info on it. If you go to a country that is outside the NATO area, prepare to have it checked. Don't take your whole life's work on your laptop abroad and expect it to stay pristine.

Why not just have a 2nd laptop thats only for traveling that has only the stuff you need not everything like the one at home and have a program that if it gets copyied without the proper password a major virus will infect the gov't computers forever.

Reply to Original Posting

Agents are empowered to share the contents of seized computers with other agencies and private entities for data decryption and other reasons, the newspaper said.

Have any of you guys here heard of the company called Acxiom? They specialize in "marketing services" that

Uses consumer data, analytics, information technology, data integration, and consulting solutions to help companies conduct effective and profitable direct marketing programs.

Link

This single company houses sensitive data on each and every American citizen. That includes S.S. Numbers, bank records, and loan information, current and previous addresses.

Acxiom is constantly expanding and buying out other companies that specialize in the same area of work. Just this year they bought Choice Point. Ever heard of them?

Vice President, Dick Cheney has been linked to Acxiom on numerous occasions. Ever since 9/11 our government has been using private companies to do its dirty work and Acxiom is on the top of the list in regards to private information.

CNN - Fortune Magazine Link

Wesley Clark was a lobbyist for Acxiom as recently as last September (according to the Center for Public Integrity). He lobbied the CIA and the White House, including a private meeting with Dick Cheney, on behalf of Acxiom. Would there have been a reason he needed to lobby, such as a contract for this airline security program that was open for competition? If not, how are Acxiom and others compensated for using their database?

Check out this Washington Post Interview
Washington Post Link

It all started will 9/11. Out of chaos comes a solution. They've been wanting to do this for years. It all started with the airlines. That was an easy given and now has transformed into this.

Salon Links

Farfetched to think that the people in the highest levels of our government are not conspiring with private companies to share as well as grow their collection of data on each American Citizen? Acxiom is one of those private companies agents share their information with. As a matter a fact, every time you get checked by airline screeners/agents they are cross referencing your information using Acxiom private data bases. All in the name of National Security. Go figure.

I'm working on something right, let me know if anyone has anything else to contribute. Thanks

Charger


[edit on 2-8-2008 by Charger15]

It gets even funner.

Once U.S. Customs grabs your gear where does your data go?

Your friendly neighborhood "Fusion Center".

www.aclu.org...

arstechnica.com...

reply to post by Rotoplooker



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