"P.J. Ponder" wrote:
> Anyone know if the UK is still searching travelers' hard drives upon entry
> at Customs?
>[...]
> >> Vint Cerf wrote:
> >> > This would appear to be an enormous invasion of privacy, so I draw
> >> >[...]
> >> > I am aware, of course, that standards for personal privacy may vary
> >> > from country to country and culture to culture, but this particular
> >> > practice strikes me as going far beyond any reasonable standard in
> >> > as much as there seems to be no due process nor even application of
> >> > the standard, at the least.
Huh? Sorry if I'm missing something here, but as far as I know
customs and immigration officials of all countries frequently will
search all your belongings, and will do such things as read any
notebooks, diaries, letters, etc., you might have on you. Certainly
this is the case for foreigners entering the USA. I am a german
national with permanent residency in the USA and I've had US customs
read letters I had on me. I also know of a german girl who tried to
enter on a tourist visa and was put on a plane back home when
immigration read her diary and discovered that she was planning to
work as an au pair.
So what is different about reading hard drives?
Basically it seems customs and immigration officials anywhere can
and will search anything on or about your person at their discretion
including hard drives---or for that matter, body cavities. National
laws that protect your privacy do not seem to apply at border
crossings.
The interesting question (for this list) is, if some border officials
search your hard drive and they encounter encrypted files, what will
they do? My guess would be that they will demand the key and threaten
to deny you entry if you don't give it to them. It does not appear
that there are any international laws or standards that say they can't
do that.
- Jürgen
