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1.  

   

   Anonymous Coward, Jun 11th, 2010 @ 5:18am

   
   

   First really? nice.
   So here's my question, if the lappy is locked down, fully encrypted and protected...can you be forced to give up the passwords? and if not, do you get your lappy back?

    

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2.  

   

   Anonymous Coward, Jun 11th, 2010 @ 5:31am

   
   

   We are the DHS

   You are outside of the border.
   You have no rights.
   We own all your bases.

    

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3.  

   

   Anonymous Coward, Jun 11th, 2010 @ 5:32am

   
   

   Re:

   no, they cannot force you to give any passwords. if you have your laptop locked and it requires a password to log in, they cant do anything about it but give it back to you.

    

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4.  

   

   Thomas (profile), Jun 11th, 2010 @ 5:43am

   
   

   Remind me...

   who is protecting us from the spooks? I thought the idea was that the spooks were to protect us? The spooks seem more interested in their own agendas and emulating the Gestapo than trying to protect American citizens

    

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5.  

   

   Anonymous Coward, Jun 11th, 2010 @ 5:46am

   
   

   Re: Remind me...

   This has been a recurring theme since the dawn of the human race.

    

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6.  

   

   Richard (profile), Jun 11th, 2010 @ 6:21am

   
   

   Stalemate

   no, they cannot force you to give any passwords.
   Sadly, at the UK border under RIPA they can demand passwords. What exactly is supposed to happen if you genuinely cannot remember or don't know (eg if you were transporting the laptop for someone else) is not clear. Also, if you use Truecrypt and they believe that there are more layers than you admit to then it is not clear what follows.

    

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7.  

   

   Rose M. Welch (profile), Jun 11th, 2010 @ 6:26am

   
   

   Re: We are the DHS

   No, that's incorrect.
   
   All of your base belong to me.

    

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8.  

   

   out_of_the_blue, Jun 11th, 2010 @ 7:01am

   
   

   Re: @1 In all seriousness, depends only on their whims.

   You are now subject to epsilon minuses with nearly unlimited power. There's a thin veneer of process and civility left, but while you're standing there in your socks, you'd better not make the least remark that implies you have rights. They can seize not only your laptop but your person, and literally disappear you, no charge, no lawyer, no trace, and no appeasing them with merely giving your password.

    

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9.  

   

   Dark Helmet (profile), Jun 11th, 2010 @ 7:20am

   
   

   Re: Re: We are the DHS

   I'm fairly certain that all your base are belong to us....

    

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10.  

    

    Adam Bell (profile), Jun 11th, 2010 @ 7:53am

    
    

    Given tools like Dropbox, why would anyone want to run the risk of a hassle at the border (which I cross frequently from Canada)? As Mike has pointed out many times now, the Internet crosses the border without overt DHS hassle. Use it if you're carrying sensitive info or email the info ahead.

     

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11.  

    

    interval (profile), Jun 11th, 2010 @ 8:08am

    
    

    Re: Re: Re: We are the DHS

    For great justice.

     

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12.  

    

    WammerJammer (profile), Jun 11th, 2010 @ 8:23am

    
    

    Lock it down

    Encrypt it before you travel and the passwords are your business and you cannot be forced to give them up. The police everywhere lie and cannot be trusted so tell them nothing. They are the true privacy wreckers. Get on a cop's radar and you'll never see privacy again.
    Police Lie. Politicians Lie. Lawyers Lie. This is their job, to defraud, to stretch the truth, to lie. So if Homeland Security tells you a thing it is either a lie or a partial truth. The time has come to decide who to trust. The battle lines have been drawn and now more than ever it is THEM or US.

     

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13.  

    

    chris (profile), Jun 11th, 2010 @ 8:24am

    
    

    Re: Remind me...

    The spooks seem more interested in their own agendas and emulating the Gestapo than trying to protect American citizens
    
    http://www.forbes.com/2007/06/11/urban-surveillance-security-biz-21cities_cx_cd_0611futu recity.html
    
    

    The East German Stasi also engaged in rampant surveillance, using a network of snitches to assemble secret files on every resident of East Berlin. They knew who was telling subversive jokes--but missed the fact that the Wall was about to come down.

    
    
    or to quote the great Robert Anton Winston: "National security is the chief cause of national insecurity."

     

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14.  

    

    Overcast (profile), Jun 11th, 2010 @ 8:39am

    
    

    They can't just use MS Cofee for it? lol
    
    Computer Online Forensic Evidence Extractor (COFEE)
    
    http://www.microsoft.com/industry/government/solutions/cofee/default.aspx

     

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15.  

    

    harbingerofdoom (profile), Jun 11th, 2010 @ 9:05am

    
    

    Re: Re: Re: Re: We are the DHS

    would somebody set up us the bomb?
    
    
    
    
    
    ...............please???

     

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16.  

    

    Anonymous Coward, Jun 11th, 2010 @ 9:16am

    
    

    1. The CBP certainly can hold you until you give up the passwords. You don't have rights at the border because you're not "officially" in the USA.
    
    2. Anybody calling their laptop a "lappy" doesn't deserve to get it back.

     

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17.  

    

    Chuck Norris' Enemy (deceased) (profile), Jun 11th, 2010 @ 9:36am

    
    

    Re:

    Anybody calling their laptop a "lappy" doesn't deserve to get it back.
    C'mon! You can't take away Strongbad's email responding abilities!

     

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18.  

    

    Anonymous Coward, Jun 11th, 2010 @ 10:10am

    
    

    This is in line with previous case law regarding searching of packages in shipment. Law enforcement agencies CAN do certain non-intrusive searches (like bring a drug sniffing dog through a UPS/FedEx/whatever shipping hub), but they can't delay a package they think might have something "bad" in it unless they get a warrant first.
    
    So same basic deal.

     

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19.  

    

    Ed C., Jun 11th, 2010 @ 11:10am

    
    

    It might be one thing for them to have the right to seize property at the board without cause, but then taking it into the county without obtaining a warrant should make the seizure and the possession unlawful. They may not have to abide by the law when they are "outside" the country, but they damn better have to abide by it the moment they set one foot into it!

     

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20.  

    

    Anonymous Coward, Jun 11th, 2010 @ 11:26am

    
    

    Re: We are the DHS

    God given rights do not disappear just because you cross a man made line.

     

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