It’s fairly obvious that you can’t access the wonders of internet speed or even drive on the information super highway without a vehicle. But what if while traveling the world in real-time, (like, physically) the device that helps you access the internet gets taken from you? While there is always the danger of your high tech gadgets getting snatched by sneak-thieves while you’re traveling, there’s also another type of loss to consider—seizure by the U.S. government.Â
Customs formalized their rules in September of 2009, but the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) demanded more information on how frequently electronic devices had been seized, and what was being done with the devices after they were taken. The Yahoo Tech Blog told us the latest:
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- In nine months (October 2008 to June 2009), U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) searched over 1,500 electronic devices without warrants or any required justification.
- Laptops are not the biggest gadget category that have been subjected to search. Rather, cell phones were more commonly seized than any other device.
- No device is safe: Digital cameras, external hard drives, and even DVD media have been seized under the program.
- In about 300 of the 1,500 cases, CBP copied material from the device(s) and sent it to another agency for further analysis. Who knows where it went from there.
So if you’re traveling, be sure to backup your important files to another location, or maybe more than one…just in case. It’s always better to be backed up. That way, no matter who takes your toys from you, whether they’re trying to protect us from terrorism or just plain stealing, you can carry on with the information you need.
Tags: Internet Speed