T&T: Confiscating laptops

[Ownyacht at aol.com]

Hogwash.
 
R. Lee
 
 
In a message dated 8/2/2008 8:26:54 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time,  
hqnp43 at yahoo.com writes:

Exactly!



----- Original Message ----
From: C. Marin  Faure
<cmfaure at earthlink.net>
To:  trawlers-and-trawlering at lists.samurai.com
Sent:
Saturday, August 2, 2008  6:58:47 PM
Subject: T&T: Confiscating  laptops

>I'm
wondering if list members are actually experiencing  equipment  
seizure, or
massive copying of data from boat  devices?..... What say  
the list?

It's
common in this  increasingly polarized and paranoid country for  
everyone  to
assume the worst about this sort of thing.  So the image   
people have is of
Customs and Immigrations folks at the border   
crossings and POEs just itching
to get their hands on your  laptop,  
mobile phone, and iPod.  Just like
everyone assumed  that the DHS  
would be swooping down on every citizen
demanding to  see their  
library card so they could check library records to
see  what books  
they were reading, or listening in on every soccer mom's  "HE
said,  
and then SHE said, and then HE said"  conversation.  When in fact none 
of this ever happens.  DHS, the  FBI, the CIA, the NSA, and the SPCA  
could
give a rat's ass about  what's on your or my laptop.  They  
aren't interested
in  what's in your iTunes library or looking at the  
photos you took on  your
last cruise.

What they ARE interested in seeing is if there is  incriminating 
evidence on the laptop, phone, etc of someone suspected of  or under 
investigation for being involved in terrorism, drug or  people  
smuggling, etc
.  Back in Elliot Ness's day they  could examine your  
bank statements and
look at your phone  records, and so far as I'm  
aware the country didn't get
its  knickers in a twist about that.  
Technology has come a long way  since
then and with almost everything  
being done electronically  now, it makes no
sense not to give the  
folks charged with  upholding the law the ability to
gather the  
evidence they need to  uphold it.  If someone stole your identity
and  
emptied your  savings account and then headed for Canada or Mexico  
it'd
be kind  of nice if the folks at the border, who may have notice  
of  this
person's record of doing this sort of thing, could snag their   
laptop, fire
it up, check out the financial files, and lo and  behold  
there's all the
account information he stole, including  yours.

A lot of people in the boating
club we belong to have taken  trips  
into Canada in the last couple of years. 
I have not heard  one  
account where entry into Canada or back into the US has
been  anything  
other than routine.  But then none of the people in  our club
are  
involved (so far as I know) in smuggling drugs,  laundering money, 
trading in illegal aliens, or transporting improvised  explosive devices..

If
you're involved in some sort of illegal  activity then, yeah, it's  
a bummer
they can take your laptop and  look at the files.  If you're  
not then it's
almost certain  that nobody is gonna give a hoot in hell  
about your laptop,
your  phone, or your library card.

____________________
C. Marin  Faure
GB36-403 "La Perouse"
Bellingham,  Washington
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