MyComputerPaladin.com

Greetings Citizens of the Realm!

Today the Paladin wants to return to a subject that he wrote about a while back regarding the ability of US Customs Agents at our border having the right to look at the data that is on your computer whenever you try to enter, or reenter, the United States (see the original post by clicking here).

It turns out that things are even more dire than the Paladin originally thought!

A recent article carried by the Washington Post digs a little deeper into the subject of precisely what powers are held by the US Border Agents (click here to read the original article). The powers given to Border Agents are described as follows:

Federal agents may take a traveler’s laptop or other electronic device to an off-site location for an unspecified period of time without any suspicion of wrongdoing, as part of border search policies the Department of Homeland Security recently disclosed.
 

Also, officials may share copies of the laptop’s contents with other agencies and private entities for language translation, data decryption or other reasons, according to the policies, dated July 16 and issued by two DHS agencies, U.S. Customs and Border Protection and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

The Paladin is bothered by several aspects of this information.

First of all, no suspicion is required on the part of the Border Agent to decide to take your laptop and examine its contents. While the Border Agents have long had the ability to search a person or anything they are carrying, the Paladin feels that going through a person’s laptop computer is something entirely different. What if your laptop contains correspondences with your doctors regarding your medical conditions or treatments? Should Border Agents have the right to traipse through your medical and other legal information for no reason at all?

If this sounds far fetched, the Paladin wishes to point out that national news headlines have recently (in the last several months) carried stories about unauthorized access to Presidential Candidate’s medical records, and the uproar that it caused. Sadly, there are people in the world whose honor is less than what we all might like to believe it is. Just how safe is the privacy of such information in unknown people’s hands? For the majority of Border Agents, the Paladin is quite certain the trust is well placed. Unfortunately, it only takes one dishonorable agent to ruin your entire day under this policy.

Second, the power to make copies of the data on your computer and share them with private entities basically means that your private data can end up in the hands of just about anybody. The wording gives virtually no restrictions.

Returning to the Paladin’s first point, even if we could be certain that the honor of all border agents was such that we all had nothing to worry about (with respect to Border Agents inappropriately sharing your personal data with people who have no reason to have it), Border Agents are now empowered to share your personal data with virtually anyone…people and organizations who do not have to be screened for their integrity before your data is given to them.

In the eyes of the Paladin, this is just plain irresponsible! The Paladin strongly suggests your write to your congress representatives and let them know how you feel about this issue.

The Paladin understands and supports the fact that our Border Agents need to have a certain amount of freedom to do their jobs properly. However, it is the Paladin’s personal opinion that this legislation has crossed the line.

Whatever your opinion on this important subject, the Paladin strongly urges you to let your elected representatives know how you feel. That is the beauty of the democracy…which hopefully we as a nation will not destroy in the name of protecting it.